10 Surprisingly Common Ways To Die In Your Sleep

There are a number of things that can go wrong when you close your eyes and slip into unconsciousness, and for some people, the danger is real enough that they never wake up again. According to an ancient Greek proverb, death and sleep are brothers. . Sleep and death are imperfect embodiments of death.

Sleep has always been seen as a passive activity that our body does on its own. Our brain is active while we sleep. There are many unanswered mysteries about sleep that modern scientists have yet to answer.

When our brains turn off and our bodies go to sleep, there are some scary things going on. Sometimes the results can be frightening.

10 Sudden Cardiac Arrest

SCA is sudden cardiac arrest.

SCA can occur when the sinoatrial Node, which acts as your body's natural pacemaker, becomes impaired. This condition occurs when the electrical systems of the heart malfunction. It can be deadly within the first few minutes.

How does it kill? It reduces blood flow to the brain. The scariest part? Half of the cases show no symptoms before the cardiac arrest occurs.

9 Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Carbon monoxide poisoning.

If too much of CO enters the lungs, it can be fatal. Carbon monoxide can be found in fumes from running cars, grills, fireplaces, gas ranges, furnaces, and so on, but it is almost impossible to detect unless a carbon monoxide detector is in use.

How does it kill? If enough of it builds up in a small space, it can become toxic. If you inhale enough of it, it can be enough to seal the deal in a very final way. If the victim is awake, they may experience symptoms such as dizziness, weakness, and headaches.

What if it catches you while you sleep? People who sleep can die in their sleep.

8 Myocardial Infarction

What is a heart attack?

A heart attack can happen during sleep, but it's good that the victim will wake up before they die.

A heart attack happens when the blood flow to part of the heart is blocked. Part of the heart muscle can be destroyed by this obstruction.

How does it kill? If the heart is damaged, it may not be strong enough to pump blood to the rest of the body. If medical treatment isn't obtained immediately, this can result in heart failure.

It is usually not possible for a heart attack victim to seek medical attention if they are asleep.

7 Central Sleep Apnea

It's a sleep disorder.

Central sleep apnea is a disorder that causes a person to stop and start breathing while they are unconscious. It happens when the brain doesn't send the proper electrical signals to the muscles that control the breathing mechanisms during sleep and is believed to be the result of a brain stem problem.

How does it kill? Hypoxemia happens when oxygen levels in the body fall below those required for normal life function if the case of apnea is bad enough. This leads to oxygen deprivation.

The brain can't rouse the body in enough time to take a breath.

See also. There are surprising ways to die in your sleep.

6 Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome

There are mysterious sleep deaths of refugees.

This is one of the more mysterious additions to our list.

The first case of unexplained nocturnal death syndrome was reported in 1977. It has gained a reputation as a scary place on the internet and in textbooks. In the Philippines, Hawaii, and Thailand, they call it Dream Disease, which means sleep and die.

The cause of death for those who die of SUNDS is still unknown, but the presentation always seems to be the same. It causes healthy people to die in their sleep for no reason.

How does it kill? It occurs frequently in Southeast Asia, and researchers suspect a range of possible explanations, from malfunction of the ion channel to ventricular fibrillation.

5 Cerebral Aneurysm

There is a 3D brain.

A cerebral aneurysm is a weak spot in the wall of the brain. It is like a thin balloon that fills with blood. If the pressure in the arteries increases too much, a rupturing can occur.

How does it kill? The bleeding lasts for a few seconds when an aneurysm is torn. The blood can cause damage to the surrounding brain cells. The condition can quickly turn fatal if the pressure is too high.

4 Enterovirus D68

Is Enteroviruses D68 worse than the otherviruses?

This is one of the more obscure entries on our list.

There is a type of enteroviruses that was first identified in California in 1962. There was a huge increase in the number of reported cases back in 2014, leaving researchers wondering if the virus was going to become more prevalent than they had expected.

EV-D68 can cause mild to severe respiratory illness symptoms, but it can also cause no symptoms at all. The disease has the potential to be more dangerous than the one in the US, according to physicians.

How does it kill? It can cause serious respiratory problems, which can be caused by a high-pitched wheezing sound. It has been associated with weakness in the muscles and inflammation of the spine.

Sometimes the symptoms of an infection are so bad that they are fatal even if the victim is asleep.

3 Dry Drowning

What is dry drowning?

Most of us know that you can drown in the water, but a lot of people don't know what "dry drown" means. It is a terrible way to die.

The idea behind this danger is that it can happen even after the victim has left the water. Dry drowning is the term that has come to be used to describe it, though some doctors have argued that it should be dropped.

It can happen when water gets past the throat and into the lungs. The symptoms are sometimes mild and easy to miss.

The water can cause breathing problems that get worse over time. In some cases, the breathing problems don't show up until hours or even days later, after the victim has fallen asleep. When you look at the total deaths attributed to drowned, it's no less disturbing.

How does it kill? It depletes the victim of oxygen until they die.

2 The Widowmaker Heart Attack

Inside a Widow-Maker Heart Attack.

Most heart attacks give victims a decent chance of waking up before they die, but the widowmaker tends to be an exception. This type of infarction deserves its own spot on the list, even though we have already mentioned heart attacks in general.

Why? It is one of the deadliest types of heart attacks. It happens when the left anterior descending artery is blocked. A 100 percent blockage in this artery is almost always fatal without immediate emergency care.

How does it kill? Damage to the heart muscle is a result of heart attacks. The result can be fatal if the muscle becomes damaged.

1 Obstructive Sleep Apnea

The Sleep Disorders Clinic at the Mayo Clinic.

A sleep disorder in which the victim stops and starts breathing during sleep is called Obstructive Sleep Apnea. It has been found that the most likely reason that a person may die in their sleep is due to sleep apnea.

This type of sleep apnea is caused by an obstruction in the airway. The muscles and tissues of the tongue, uvula, tonsils, and soft palate can all play a part in this obstruction. It is estimated that 22 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea but that 80 percent of cases go undetected making it a true silent killer.

How does it kill? When people stop breathing, their blood oxygen levels plummet. If they are already at risk for a heart attack, stroke, or heart failure, then OSA can be the cause.

The victim may not have a chance to wake up.