so I would imagine until we start to see these trends change that this will only continue to get worse."
"I think our culture is based on a 24-hour culture. "I think that in general, Americans probably are getting sleepier," Bornemann said. By 2012, the market for insomnia drugs is expected to grow 78 percent, to nearly $3.9 billion. "Many of these issues are difficulties within ourselves for which then insomnia becomes a symptom."Īmericans spend nearly $24 billion a year on sleep-related goods and services. Michel Cramer Bornemann of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center in Minneapolis. "If we look at surveys of the American population, a third of Americans continue to complain of insomnia," said Dr. Only 40 families are known to have this disease in the world, but most people have had at least one night where it seems impossible to fall asleep. The genetic mutation for FFI runs in families. Max is featured in a National Geographic documentary called "Explorer: Fatal Insomnia," which airs Tuesday at 10 p.m., and explores the mysteries of sleep, and FFI. But we know even less about why we sleep." "Sleep is the most extraordinary mystery, the most elusive biological function that we have," said Daniel Max, author of " The Family That Couldn't Sleep," who has chronicled Silvano's story and family lineage. There is no cure.įor scientists, why a lack of sleep could kill you is still an unsolved mystery. Sleeplessness deteriorates into exhaustion, dementia and, ultimately, death. The inability to sleep wreaks havoc on their lives. Through Silvano's case, Italian scientists discovered an extremely rare genetic disease called fatal familial insomnia, or FFI.įFI sufferers fall into a state in which they are neither fully asleep nor awake. Four months after checking into a sleep clinic in Bologna, Italy, in 1984, Silvano went into a coma and died. Silvano, an Italian man who suffered from such a condition, lost the ability to sleep at age 53. April 26, 2010— - Most people can relate to the occasional sleepless night, but for sufferers of a rare form of insomnia, sleeplessness can be fatal.
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