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It’s believed we need sleep because of a waste product called adenosine builds up in our brains while we’re awake. When we’re unconscious the waste stops building up and the CSF in the brain gets rid of it. Adenosine is a CNS depressant and works on the same receptors as sleeping pills so wouldn’t it be like the idea of holding your breath until you die, you’d just involuntarily pass out (as if you’d been given anaesthesia) and the problem would solve itself? I’m imagining a CNS depressant would cause unconsciousness long before it got to lethal levels.

  • @hungprocess@lemmy.sdf.org
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    12525 days ago

    When reading anything published by The Daily Mail, it’s best to assume that the story ranges between poorly reported and outright fabricated.

  • @sun_is_ra@sh.itjust.works
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    4525 days ago

    The article says it was combination of exhausion, alcohol and smoking.

    before making any meaningful discussion we’d need to know first the exact cause of death.

  • @moopet@sh.itjust.works
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    2425 days ago

    When people have tried this they found you can’t just stay awake. Your brain ends up turning bits of itself off at a time, so while you can talk and move around you’re basically not fully conscious and will mix up words or not be able to move at the same time. They called it “microsleep”, and it’s the main reason why nobody tries to go for longer without sleep any more: beyond a certain point you’re not really awake or asleep.

  • @Deepus@lemm.ee
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    1224 days ago

    I cant comment on the dude in the article, cause I can’t be arsed to read it but, what you described happened to me. Stayed up for 3 days straight and, according to the doctors, it caused an epileptic fit.

  • slazer2au
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    925 days ago

    My non medical opinion is sleep is not the same as being unconscious.

  • queermunist she/her
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    725 days ago

    I think heart problems could actually make it possible to hold your breath until you die. You wouldn’t suffocate, but the stress on the heart would still kill you.

    A drinker and a smoker? Probably stressed their heart too much.

  • @ultranaut@lemmy.world
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    524 days ago

    I think once you have been awake past a certain point your brain becomes sort of desensitized to sleepiness and it gets easier to keep staying awake. Or at least that is how my brain is, things get weird but I will feel like I can keep going when I really shouldn’t.

    • @BlindFrog@lemmy.world
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      424 days ago

      I have a similar experience keeping this waking state of mind, but the breadth of my vocabulary takes a steeep dive after a few days of only getting a few hours sleep (each night). I pretty much lose some capacity to form coherent speech, and when it happens in front of people, I try to blow it off like I just need my ahlzemerszers meds coffee

  • LousyCornMuffins
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    224 days ago

    Maybe, maybe not. After too long of no sleep (around four days for me) I start to ache so much I need pain meds to sleep.