Fatal Familial Insomnia: The True Story of The Man Who Never Slept

 

Fatal Familial Insomnia

The True Story of The Man Who Never Slept

Share Article |

Nov 1, 2007 Rebecca Turner

Fatal Familial Insomnia, or FFI, is a devastating genetic sleep disorder, which strikes during middle age and results in death. This is the story of Michael Corke.

Fatal Familial Insomnia is a rare curse that affects about 40 families around the world. It is caused by prion diseases (mutated proteins) which can affect both humans and animals. Here is one story of Fatal Familial Insomnia, or FFI.

Michael Corke (Michel A Corke)

Shortly after his 40th birthday in 1991, Michael Corke, a music teacher from Chicago, began having trouble sleeping. In the following weeks, the insomnia grew worse and his health rapidly deteriorated. Eventually he couldn’t sleep at all.

The doctors were baffled but could do nothing for him. Michael was physically and mentally exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to be able to fall asleep. But his brain wouldn’t let him.

Video footage of him appearing at a school orchestra concert revealed a frail old man - a far cry from the fit and healthy individual he was just months earlier. Eventually he was admitted to hospital and doctors diagnosed him with an extremely rare genetic disorder discovered just seven years prior: Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI).

Michael Corke died in hospital after six months from a complete lack of sleep.

Ads by Google

Sleep Apnea Treatment
AveoTSD from your Dentist or Doctor No CPAP!
www.EndSnore.com

Stop Your Insomnia
Non-habit forming herbal sleep remedy. No Chemicals. Only $39.
www.naturalwellbeing.com

Symptoms of Fatal Familial Insomnia

The FFI sleep disorder is so rare that only 40 families worldwide have been identified as carrying the defective gene. If only one parent has the gene, the offspring has a 50% chance of inheriting and developing the disease.

Fatal Familial Insomnia strikes between the ages of 30 and 60 years, with no apparent trigger that the sufferer can relate to. Patients have been known to survive for up to three years, gradually passing through four stages of illness:

1. The onset of insomnia, creating panic attacks and unfounded phobias, lasting for four months.
2. Severe insomnia, worsening panic attacks and hallucinations, lasting for five months.
3. Complete insomnia and rapid weight loss, lasting for three months.
4. Dementia and unresponsiveness, lasting for six months. FFI is eventually fatal.

Causes of Fatal Familial Insomnia

Ten years ago, scientists discovered that Fatal Familial Insomnia is caused by a dual mutation in a gene that codes for proteins. The tell-tale sign of prion diseases is an insoluble protein that causes plaque to develop in the thalamus. This is the region of the brain responsible for the regulation of sleep, as well as sensory and motor systems.

As the plaque "eats away" at the brain, the sufferer loses the ability to shut down at night. This manifests in the form of insomnia. The resulting symptoms of FFI are caused by the complete lack of REM and NREM sleep, proving that sleep is vital to everyone.

Treatments for Fatal Familial Insomnia

Because of the nature of prion diseases, Fatal Familial Insomnia has been linked with other gene disorders like Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE – or mad cow disease) as well as wasting diseases in deer and elk. It is also linked to Kuru (the laughing disease).

There is currently no known cure for FFI. This prion disease is still shrouded in mystery, and sleeping pills only worsen the symptoms. However, there is hope that one day, Fatal Familial Insomnia will be controlled through gene therapy.

Further Reading

If you found Fatal Familial Insomnia interesting, you may also like:

Fatal Familial Insomnia: A History of FFI

The Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Fatal Familial Insomnia: The True Story of The Man Who Never Slept

Roger Waters gives 'The Wall' a new, 'more political' edge for tour - USATODAY.com

 

Roger Waters gives 'The Wall' a new, 'more political' edge for tour

Updated 4/12/2010 8:32 PM | Comments 13 | Recommend 5
E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions |

Enlarge
By Jeff Christensen, AP

Roger Waters is asking relatives of war victims to submit photos on his website to be projected in arenas during his tour.

By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — Roger Waters is rebuilding The Wall— and he wants fans to help.

The British rock veteran will launch a North American tour this fall — kicking off Sept. 15 in Toronto, with shows in the USA scheduled through Dec. 13 — revisiting the epic concept album that he introduced in 1979 as principal songwriter of Pink Floyd.

It has been 30 years since that group launched a string of visually ambitious live performances of the songs and 20 since Waters performed them solo in Berlin.

After showcasing another Floyd classic, The Dark Side of the Moon, on a 2006 trek, Waters "realized that the story in The Wall— of a young man who is alienated and defensive, because he's fearful — could be an allegory for a more universal story. We're all frightened of each other, and that makes us behave in ways that are sadly inhumane, like engaging in wars. I wanted to make this show more political."

To do that, Waters, 66, is posting an appeal on roger-waters.com to relatives of those lost in war. He's asking for their photographs to project onto arena surfaces representing the title's metaphorical wall — so that each victim becomes, in effect, another brick.

"I get slight shivers talking about this," says Waters, who lost his father in World War II. "I want people to remember their loved ones as I remember mine, as part of a show that has a strongly anti-war message."

Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis doesn't expect Waters' approach will prove too controversial. The Wall's songs have always had "a generalized anti-war message," he says. "People are going to go for the spectacle."

They shouldn't be disappointed. Waters says video technology allows for projections twice the size of those in the original Wall dates, in which a huge wall was constructed between the band and the audience. Album illustrator Gerald Scarfe, who worked on the tour and 1982 film, is providing new art and redesigning puppets and inflatable objects.

Waters also is developing The Wall into a stage musical with Billy Elliot librettist Lee Hall. He doesn't plan to collaborate again with surviving Floyd members Nick Mason and David Gilmour, despite fond memories of the band's reunion at Live 8 in 2005.

"But Nick and I have become great friends again," he says. "We had a bad 15 years, so to come back together is fantastic."

Roger Waters gives 'The Wall' a new, 'more political' edge for tour - USATODAY.com

The 4th Kind (Movie)

"The Fourth Kind" Movie Poster (Image: Universal Pictures)

 "The Fourth Kind" is an alien abduction film 'somewhat' based on real life events, with an out-of-this world twist. The story, set in Nome, Alaska, is loosely based on the mysterious disappearances of 24 people in the town. The FBI did investigate the disappearances, which took place between the 1960s and 2004, and concluded in 2006 that "alcohol" was  common factor in most of the disappearances. Before the FBI concluded the investigation, it was believed that the deaths and disappearances were the work of a local serial killer.

The movie is based on the theory that the missing-persons cases were actually alien abductions. "The Fourth Kind" hit theaters on November 6, 2009 and featured "archival footage" of the "most disturbing evidence of alien abduction ever documented." The 'footage' is that of hypnotherapy sessions between a "Dr. Abigail Tyler," played by Milla Jovovich, and patients who claimed they were abducted. The aliens in the movie spoke the long-lost Sumerian language.

True Story: The FBI and Missing Villagers in Nome Alaska

In 2005, the FBI sent homicide detectives to investigate a series of unsolved disappearances and deaths in Nome, Alaska. Most of the victims were Native villagers. Between the 1960s and 2004, over 20 people mysteriously died, or vanished. In 2006, the FBI concluded that "excessive alcohol consumption and a harsh winter climate" were to blame for the disappearances.

Dr. Abigail Tyler and the "Alaska Psychiatry Journal"

In the movie "The Fourth Kind," Milla Jovovich plays Dr. Abigail Tyler, the Nome, Alaska, psychiatrist who stumbles upon the 'alien abduction' link between her patients, during clinical hypnotherapy sessions. If you search for Dr. Abigail Tyler, Nome Alaska, a website called "Alaska Psychiatry Journal" provides a "biography" of Dr. Tyler with "related articles" on the topics of sleep disorders, emotional issues, hypnotherapy and regression therapy. However, the website does not have a homepage or contact information. The website was registered on GoDaddy in August 2009. A real online-medical publication would have such information, so this leads to the conclusion that the website is a viral marketing ploy, much like the promotion for the upcoming "2012" movie and the  for "Institute for Human Continuity." Sorry to burst your bubble, but this doesn't rule out that Dr. Tyler 'could' have been based on a 'real' doctor; but if there were, the true account would have made for a much more interesting find.

Overall, I love a good horror/sci-fi flick whether it is true or not. This one looks promising. Check out the trailer below. 

 

Light show sparks UFO buzz - Cosmic Log - msnbc.com

 

Light show sparks UFO buzz

Posted: Wednesday, December 09, 2009 6:56 PM by Alan Boyle

msnbc.com

Click for video: A spiral seen in Norwegian skies has sparked speculation
worldwide. Click on the image for Brian Williams' report on "NBC Nightly News."

---

A spectacular light show visible from northern Norway has energized the UFO crowd. Was that blazing pinwheel in the sky a signal from the aliens? Was it a practice run for an elaborate worldwide messianic hoax?

You'd expect the experts to come out with a less sensational explanation, and they have: They suggest that the display was caused by a Russian submarine-launched missile that went into a midair spin, causing a spiral-shaped rocket plume.

The glowing spiral, with a bluish column of smoke trailing down toward the horizon, was seen in eastern skies early this morning from a wide area of northern Norway. Photos and video clips of the display quickly proliferated - first in Norwegian news media, then around the world via the Internet. For a sampling, check out NRK, The Daily Mail and SpaceWeather.com.

The effect looks almost too good to be real, and tabloids floated some out-of-this-world suggestions for its cause - such as a previously unknown manifestation of the Northern Lights, a black hole or a "Stargate" to another dimension.

A former UFO analyst for the British Ministry of Defense, Nick Pope, was mystified by the flare-up. "It's ironic that something like this should happen the very week after the [Ministry of Defense] terminated its UFO project," he told The Sun. "It just goes to show how wrong that decision was."

Russia Today's video clip about the sightings, posted to YouTube, was headlined "UFO show in Norway sky welcomes Obama for Nobel Prize ceremony."

One Internet forum debated whether the fireworks were a test run for "Project Bluebeam," which supposedly involves creating huge projections in the sky that show scenes of the Second Coming or an alien invasion. The hoax would clear the way for a one-world government to take over - well, at least that's what the conspiracy theorists think.

Russian and Norwegian news reports gave strong support to the missile hypothesis. The Infox.ru news site and Norway's Barents Observer referred to Russian advisories about missile test launches that were to take place around the time of the sighting.

"The missile was most likely yet another failed test launch of a Bulava missile from the Typhoon submarine Dmitry Donskoy in the White Sea area," the Barents Observer said. A similar phenomenon was spotted a month ago, but without the spectacular spiral.

Over at the Bad Astronomy blog, Phil Plait points out that a simulation of particles being spewed out from a spinning rocket booster can produce an effect that looks much like the Norwegian sighting.

NBC News space analyst James Oberg, an expert on UFO sightings as well as the Russian space program, says the missile spin is a plausible explanation.

"But it is still not clear that the missile actually failed. ... Spiral rocket plumes are also created by rocket stages spinning to create gyroscopic stability," Oberg said in an e-mail. "Also, Norwegian observers were looking 'up the tailpipe' of the rocket as it sped eastward, away from them - so even a slight thrusting wobble might manifest itself as an expanding spiral, exactly what was seen."

Oberg noted that the Bulava missile has been at the center of a Russian military scandal. "The continuing failures of its test program in the past two years is putting the Russian nuclear weapons retaliatory capability in doubt as older missiles degrade in their silos and the replacement missile is still years from deployment," he said.

So what does the Russian military have to say? Not much. "On this matter we do not confirm, we do not deny, we do not comment," a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman told Infox.ru.

If the spiral in the sky really was a missile failure, Moscow's higher-ups just might prefer to have the world think it was a UFO.

For more case studies from the ex-Soviet X-files, check out Oberg's reports on Tunguska's 'alien' artifacts, the 1984 Minsk UFO sighting and Russia's space dumping ground in the Pacific. Search for UFOs on msnbc.com, and tune in to "The Rachel Maddow Show" tonight on MSNBC for an update from Oberg.

Light show sparks UFO buzz - Cosmic Log - msnbc.com

FW: Batman! by Bernie Wrightson

 

 

Feed: Fantasy Ink
Posted on: Thursday, December 03, 2009 7:47 AM
Author: tom
Subject: Batman! by Bernie Wrightson

 

A couple of Batman covers by Bernie Wrightson. Detective Comics #425, July 1972. I always really liked this one. Batman #320, February 1980. More Wrightson Batman fun posted previously.

View article...

Swamp Thing! By Bernie Wrightson

 

By Bernie Wrightson DC Special Series Vol. 1, #2. Reprint from 1977. This comic was my introduction to the work of Bernie Wrightson. DC Special Series Vol. 2, #14. Reprint comic from Summer 1978. Cover for Roots of the the Swamp Thing #1. Reprint comic from July 1986. Promotional sticker for Swamp Thing, 1974. Cover rough for Swamp Thing #8. Original art for splash page from Swamp Thing #4. Original art for the cover of Swamp Thing #5. Note on the published cover below, Swamp Thing does not have the axe in his back. Original art of splash page from Swamp Thing #2. Original art for the cover to House of Secrets #92. House of Secrets #92. First appearance of the Swamp Thing, July 1971. Swamp Thing #1, November 1972. Swamp Thing #2, January 1973. Swamp Thing #3, March 1973. Swamp Thing #4, May 1973. Swamp Thing #5, August 1973. Swamp Thing #6, October 1973. Swamp Thing #7, December 1973. (Batman!) Swamp Thing #8, February 1974. Swamp Thing #9, April 1974. Swamp Thing #10, June 1974. Previous post on some nice Danish reprints of Swamp Thing. Pencil/Ink blog reviews Wrightson's Swamp Thing.

View article...

Install ANY version of Windows 7 by making your own USB install drive

Microsoft had recently released a utility that allowed you to make a USB memory stick to install Windows 7 on computer’s that did not have a DVD drive. However Rafael Rivera of the “Within Windows” blog pointed out that the tool contained some GPL v2 licenced code and Microsoft have now quickly removed it from their web site. UPDATE: Microsoft has admitted that they violated the GPL v2 licence and have now released the tool under open source. In any case the instructions below show you how to build a much better bootable USB install memory stick that allows you to install ANY version of Windows 7. If you have bought multiple version of Windows 7 and compared the DVD’s you might have noticed that they are the same with the exception of one file (ei.cfg). This one file tells Windows what version to automatically install during the install process. Because all the DVD’s are essentially the same you can use any Windows 7 DVD to perform a version upgrade of Windows 7 using the “Upgrade Anytime” option. Now to make this bootable universal Windows 7 install USB memory stick you will need at least one Windows 7 DVD 32bit or 64bit depending on what version you want to install and a blank 4gb USB memory stick. Note you will need to create a separate 32 or 64bit USB memory stick of Windows 7 but it will let you install the different SKU’s. Step 1. Insert the Windows 7 DVD into your computer and the USB memory stick into your computer Step 2. Open an “Command Prompt” and run “DISKPART”. This will launch the diskpart utility in a separate windows and perform a UAC prompt. Step 3. Type “LIST DISK” and take note what the disk number is of the USB memory stick. This will be the same size as the USB memory stick (eg. 3824 MB = 4 GB). Step 4. Then type “SELECT DISK X” where X is the disk number of the USB memory stick. Step 5. Type “CLEAN”. Warning – This will wipe all data from the USB memory stick. Step 6. Type “CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY” Step 7. Type “SELECT PARTITION 1” Step 8. Type “ACTIVE” Step 9. Type “FORMAT FS=FAT32” (and wait about 5 minutes depending on the size and speed of the USB memory stick) Step 10. Type “ASSIGN”. You will notice the auto play window now appears. Take note of the drive letter (e.g. F:\ ) and close this window. Step 11. Type “EXIT” Step 12. Back at the command prompt type “xcopy d:*.* /s/e/f F:” where D: is the drive letter of you DVD and F: is the drive letter of your USB Memory stick. Don’t worry if it takes a long time to copy boot.wim and install.wim as these are the two largest files on the DVD. Step 13. Once the xcopy is finished  run “del F:\sources\ei.cfg” from the command prompt and you Windows 7 Bootable USB memory stick is ready to go. Doing this step is what makes the USB memory stick allow you to install any version of Windows 7 as it no longer has a default version configured. You can now either boot from the USB memory stick or just run setup.exe from the drive to start the install process. Either way you will now prompted for the version of Windows 7 you want to install. Warning: This procedure will allow you to install a copy of Windows 7 that you are not licenced to have. Therefore you need to be very careful to only select a version that you have a licence key for as you will not be able activate Windows without a key that exactly matches the version you have installed. By Alan Burchill Twitter at @alanburchill Blog http://abskb.spaces.live.com Related posts: How to install any version (or SKU) of Windows 7 Did you happen to grab the Professional Edition of the latest build and want to... Fix: Windows 7 boot screen shows a Vista boot screen instead Sometimes when you are trying to tinker with a multi-boot setup, you may end up...

View article...