This Disease Turned 5 Million People Into Statues, And Then Vanished

> turns 5 million people into statues > refuses to elaborate > leaves

It is always disturbing when science cannot establish any answers to a disease that is still around.

I developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the early 90s after a significant illness. The doctors told me that was what I had was called but also told 'no one really thinks that's real illness' and I would just have to 'take it easy and see what happened'. I have experienced many bouts of Catatonia since I was 14. Took me a few decades of worsening health and being near to death to better understand the underlying causes for my ongoing illness. It is so strange to hear of so many experiencing something similar after covid. It is very hard to see that the medical system still struggling to help people.

I am 29, just diagnosed with Parkinson’s*. I started carbidopa-levodopa in December. I am so thankful for the neurologists that have helped me, I was in a wheelchair for 3y and have just started walking with crutches again. I was bed bound and now I’m back to playing music and “being a person”. There’s no words for how absolutely life changing the right medication has been. While my symptoms are permanent they’re at least not progressing as severely and I am so so thankful. *datScan may distinguish EOPD vs. PS vs. VE(L) just in case, I do it next week. Humourously my neuro told me to watch Awakenings because the case was so similar. Everything Sacks said was true of me… and now I’m doing everything I did in high school it’s wild.

My great great grandfather died of this in 1921. It was thought that he contracted a virus from mosquitos that caused sleeping sickness.

Oliver Sacks was such a brilliant neurologist and writer. Probably most people watching this channel already know of him, but if you don’t, I’d recommend starting with the book “The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat”. It’s a fascinating and moving piece of work.

I was a nurse's aid in the 1980's and one of the patients was similar to that, caught in a rigid posture, but he was conscious. He was quite a character with a colorful history from before getting sick and he would joke about never having expected to become a human pretzel.

My Mom got her nursing degree in 1963, she did her medicine and psychiatry practice with a catatonic patient. She took him put of this catatonic state I don't know how she did it. Mom you're special for me forever and I love you Rest in Power ❤❤❤

Another reason to be thankful for the vigorously healthy body I have had for 71 years.

My mom had long covid. She now, can’t walk without a walker, she has a shake to her hands and head and loss of balance. The neurologist said the virus attacked the little hairs in your ear that helps you balance. I feel bad that her last years of life were made worse. Everyone gets old, but she went from an active elderly person, to hospitalized, the in a rehab center and now home and I take care of her.

I'm flabbergasted by your information. I'm a retired RN after 30 years in ICU, ER, and psychiatric care. You speak like you have a larger understanding of medicine. Do you have a medical degree? If you don't, you have a wonderful talent for research. Thank you for this information. You have a great speaking voice and easy to listen to.

AWAKENINGS is one of my favorite books ever. Tons of footnotes, which explain alot! Some pages are 1/2 footnotes. Dr. Sacks' compassion and care for his patients pours through every page. Book is 1000% better than movie which was sweet and cute. But encephalitis lethargica is utterly fascinating, including precognition of death in a couple of patients! Fascinating.❤

First thought was ... "Hahaha yea april fools mf!" Then, the "well shit..." kicked in

That the patients improved with l-dopa, but eventually regressed, reminds me of "Flowers for Algernon".

I experienced "long COVID" for nearly 6 months. Mental fog, physical fatigue and difficulty doing daily tasks. It was like I slowed down to 20% my normal speed, tasks would take about 5 times longer than usual. Oddly, though, I was perfectly OK with this, like it didn't matter. I was aware of it, but it didn't bother me, worry me or upset me. It went away gradually, until one day I just realized, "hey, I feel normal again!" But there is one lingering side effect - I am easily at peace with things that previously would've caused distress. I am able to accept things more easily just as they are and simply move on with my life in a positive way in spite of negative circumstance. It's not apathy or indifference - it's not like things don't matter, just that I'm at peace with whatever comes. It almost feels like I've moved on to a new spiritual level. It's difficult to explain, but I see it as a plus and I hope that it continues.

I don't normally comment on stuff like this, and I don't know if anyone will see it, but my Grandma's mother passed away when my Grandma was 3 years old in 1921. All she was told her entire life was that her mother had the sleeping disease and died from it. No one explained what it was or what it did, and because of her age she didn't even remember her mother much. In fact, her dad's mother raised her and her sister, which her sister was 10 years older, but she wouldn't tell Grandma anything other than it was the sleeping disease. I imagine the adults back then did not talk about stuff like that with their children. I don't know if it's the same thing, but it is around the same timeline. Now, my Great Grandma was from Germany and her family came over before WW1, but she had family that did live in New York. And the one thing that my Grandma did remember was that when her mom passed away, her mom's sister and mother came to visit, and her Grandmother only spoke German, and Grandma couldn't understand her. This was the only time that my Grandma met her mom's sister and mother. Also, there is a picture of her mother with her older sister, who at that time was between 2 to 3 years old, and she looks fine and even slightly smiling. So, no one in the family knows when the sleeping disease started, or at least my Grandma and her sister were never told. But as far as we know, no one else in the family has ever had it. So, I don't know if it's the same thing or not. But it would explain why her dad and his mother called it the sleeping disease and why her mother passed away in 1921.

My Mom had Sleeping Sickness as a child. She was living in Roslyn Washington. Her Dad worked at the coal mine and it was a company town. If you worked at the mine you could live in the town. She came down with Sleeping Sickness and also a super high fever that cooked her brain. My understanding is she was sick with 2 or 3 things at the same time. Kind of hard to say since they really didn't have a good way to test for things back then. My best guess is someone came to work at the mine from the East Coast and carried the sickness with him. She was in a coma for several weeks and when she did wake up, she had to start school over. She was a couple of grades ahead when she became ill. It was a hard road to recovery, but she ended up living a full life. Since she was one of the few that had it on the West Coast and recovered, she would be called in to donate blood to help other victims many years later. I'm so glad she didn't end up the way these people did. She recovered and they never did. Maybe because she was a child.

Long covid and Chronic fatigue syndrome do seem to have a lot of crossovers. As someone that has had debilitating chronic fatigue syndrome for 30 years I can tell you what I have learned. 1. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is really more of a "catch all" term for anyone experiencing debilitating fatigue. Long covid falls under that description. Think of it like how we classify "colds". Each cold virus is different. They just have the same symptoms. CFS seems to be similar. 2. CFS has long been a condition that surfaces after the body goes through a traumatic, physical event. Usually a bad reaction to some sort of infection. Covid would certainly qualify. But this can also happen from other traumatic events such as a car accident. My specific case surfaced after surviving a cardiac arrest as a young teenager. 3. We don't know how these traumatic events cause these lingering effects, or why only a small percentage of the population suffers long term while most do not. Research is ongoing. But, until long covid, many looked at CFS as a psychosomatic condition and didn't treat it seriously. It's interesting you mentioned how there was a treatment that helped those with EL begin to "come back to life" only to have the condition eventually overwhelm the treatment and bring them back to that same state. I participate in many trial studies to treat CFS. A recent one had a similar affect on me. My health and energy improved. I felt mostly better. But eventually, the CFS overwhelmed the treatment and I was back to 80% bed ridden. So, yes. EL is not long covid or CFS, but there are a remarkable amount of things that rhyme with all three conditions. I believe your conclusion that there will always be a very small percentage of a population that will suffer, permanent, debilitating symptoms from traumatic infections and/or other bodily stresses. We should be compassionate to those people.

As you were describing their symptoms, I went, "that's got to be something to do with dysfunctional dopamine production/use in the body." Reminded me so clearly of how I felt when my fibromyalgia had me bedridden--barely able to stay awake, struggling to move, struggling to feel, struggling to think, bleak and losing myself. Now I'm healing; and many signs point to my fibro being rooted in dopamine issues. Most compelling might be in how the Adderall I was prescribed for ADHD has had completely unexpected, powerful effects on the fibro pain and fatigue! There are so many mysteries surrounding the human body and nervous system to this day. Here's hoping we can unravel those mysteries further and bring life to people suffering.

My paternal grandmother had Addison's disease in the 1950's. It was so bad, they had to sell the farm and move to the city for her treatments. She lacked the energy to get out of bed. It got to the point that she wasn't eating. I don't know what treatment they gave her, but she was super-woman to me! She cooked, cleaned, and worked 40 hrs a week. Every weekend had the grandkids, baked bread, went to church and Sunday and dinners! I have been diagnosed with chronic fatigue. I WISH I had her treatment plan!!!