Mysterious "Nightmare Syndrome" Kills Again

April 3, 2002

Ricardo Yan was a romantic Asian heartthrob just 27 years old with the entire rest-of-his-life ahead of him. Last week he had a few drinks with friends while on a vacation, bid them goodnight and headed off to bed. They never saw him again alive.

Aside from a shocked and disbelieving public, he leaves behind more questions than answers in his untimely death. Filipino doctors think they know what did it. They are certain that "bangungot" or "The Nightmare Syndrome" caused his death. Victims are heard moaning just before they die, which is usually in the middle of the night.

Very little is known about the bizarre condition, which only seems to affect young Asian men. Women have not to date contracted it, and those who know exactly what happened are, well, dead now-so they are unable to provide any input on what happened to them in their final moments. Generally, the victims are between 30 and 50 years of age, although there has been one case where the deceased was only 17 years old.

In studying autopsy reports of 328 victims of bangungot done between 1957 to 1987, the only commonality they were able to establish was that all the victims seemed to have some unidentified problem with their heart rhythm while they were sleeping. In their final moments, the victims have been known to moan in their sleep from apparent discomfort or pain.

A similar malady occurs in Japanese men, leading to speculation that the diet specific to the cultures in the Southeast Asian countries may be a factor. Vietnamese refugees in the United States have also suffered from the disease, so it remains specific to a group of individuals regardless of their location.

Source: CNSNews.com

Cosmiverse Staff Writer