From sexual sleepwalking to dying of nightmares

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the mysterious phenomenon of Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS) affecting primarily Hmong immigrants in the U.S., particularly in Minnesota. Participants explore potential causes, anecdotal experiences related to sleep paralysis, and the adequacy of research on the subject.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note the lack of identifiable causes in autopsies of SUNDS victims, raising questions about the thoroughness of postmortem toxicologic screenings.
  • One participant suggests the possibility of poisoning, reflecting on local attitudes towards the Hmong community.
  • Another participant questions the research quality of the article discussing SUNDS, implying that important genetic factors, such as the SCN5A gene, may have been overlooked.
  • A participant shares personal experiences with sleep paralysis, linking them to the cultural context of the Hmong community and suggesting a potential connection to the reported phenomena.
  • There is mention of classic sleep paralysis symptoms, including hallucinations, as part of the discussion on the experiences of Hmong men.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the causes of SUNDS, with some attributing it to cultural factors and others questioning the scientific investigation into the syndrome. There is no consensus on the underlying reasons for the deaths or the adequacy of the research conducted.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the potential oversight of genetic factors in the investigation of SUNDS and the anecdotal nature of some contributions, which may not provide a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon.

Ivan Seeking
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...The surreal deaths of more than 100 healthy adults in the U.S., primarily in Minnesota, are perhaps the most mysterious of all. Since 1977, more than a hundred Southeast Asian immigrants in the U.S., primarily ethnic Hmong from Laos, have died from a mysterious disorder known as Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome, according to reports by the U.S. Center for Disease Control. The victims were mostly men in their 30s or older, who were apparently in good health when they died in their sleep for no apparent reason.

"The victim has no known antecedent illnesses, and there are no factors that might precipitate cardiac arrest," the Cambridge History of Disease notes. "At autopsy, no cause of death can be identified in the heart, lung or brain. Postmortem toxicologic screening tests reveal no poisons." ...
http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/23/medicine-sleep-biz-healthcare-cx_wp_1223sleep.html
 
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i dunno, I've heard anecdotes that the hmong are considered a nuisance by some of the locals up there. got to wonder about poisoning.
 
Proton Soup said:
i dunno, I've heard anecdotes that the hmong are considered a nuisance by some of the locals up there. got to wonder about poisoning.

Postmortem toxicologic screening tests reveal no poisons.
...
 
Ivan Seeking said:
...

that just says they don't know anything

hypatia said:
I first heard of this several decades ago. Heres a link that may explain more.
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=brugadasyndrome

odd that the story says they don't know why they died, and doesn't mention the SCN5A gene. kinda sounds like they didn't bother to test for it, and just assumed SUNDS. makes you wonder if the tox screen was thorough, too.
 
It actually just seems like the author William Pentland, didn't really research the subject as well as he should of.
 
The surreal deaths of more than 100 healthy adults in the U.S., primarily in Minnesota, are perhaps the most mysterious of all. Since 1977, more than a hundred Southeast Asian immigrants in the U.S., primarily ethnic Hmong from Laos, have died from a mysterious disorder known as Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome, according to reports by the U.S. Center for Disease Control. The victims were mostly men in their 30s or older, who were apparently in good health when they died in their sleep for no apparent reason.
This was going on back when I used to live in Minneapolis (1980's) and there were stories about it in the papers. The details were that Hmong men were waking up in the middle of the night to find themselves paralyzed, unable to move, with a hideous old hag sitting on their chest attempting to suffocate them to death.

Clearly that's classic sleep paralysis with hallucinations.

The men were instructing their wives, the story said, to wake them once an hour during the night. Possibly the worst course of action because the more sleep deprived a person is the more prone to sleep paralysis they become.

The interesting anecdotal contribution I have to make is that I, too, suffered four bouts of sleep paralysis when I lived in Minneapolis, and I haven't had any since I moved here, to San Diego. In my case two of the instances consisted of me waking up paralyzed, which is frightening enough, and the other two included hallucinations. The last one was incredibly frightening and realistic.

It never occurred to me till now my experiences with sleep paralysis there might be related to that area or to the Hmong (There were two Hmong employees where I worked, and I was friendly with them).