Bangungot
You don't need to be Editor-In-Chief to add or edit content to WikiDoc. You can begin to add to or edit text on this WikiDoc page by clicking on the edit button at the top of this page. Next enter or edit the information that you would like to appear here. Once you are done editing, scroll down and click the Save page button at the bottom of the page.
| Cardiology Network |
 Discuss Bangungot further in the WikiDoc Cardiology Network |
| Adult Congenital |
|---|
| Biomarkers |
| Cardiac Rehabilitation |
| Congestive Heart Failure |
| CT Angiography |
| Echocardiography |
| Electrophysiology |
| Cardiology General |
| Genetics |
| Health Economics |
| Hypertension |
| Interventional Cardiology |
| MRI |
| Nuclear Cardiology |
| Peripheral Arterial Disease |
| Prevention |
| Public Policy |
| Pulmonary Embolism |
| Stable Angina |
| Valvular Heart Disease |
| Vascular Medicine |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Phone:617-632-7753
Please Take Over This Page and Apply to be Editor-In-Chief for this topic: There can be one or more than one Editor-In-Chief. You may also apply to be an Associate Editor-In-Chief of one of the subtopics below. Please mail us [2] to indicate your interest in serving either as an Editor-In-Chief of the entire topic or as an Associate Editor-In-Chief for a subtopic. Please be sure to attach your CV and or biographical sketch.
Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome (called bangungot in the Philippines, lai tai in Thailand, and hukuri in Japan) is sudden unexpected death of adolescents and adults during sleep. Bangungot is rarely observed in the Western world, and appears to occur more commonly among young men in East and Southeast Asian countries. The term originated from the Tagalog word meaning "bad dream." The root of this term is the fact that survivors of bangungot often describe dreaming about falling into a bottomless pit. While experiencing this, the person is aware that he is dreaming but feels like there is something that stops him from moving and awaking.
SUDS has been cloaked in superstition. In Thailand it is particularly believed to be linked to eating rice cakes. Filipinos believe ingesting high levels of carbohydrates just before sleeping causes bangungot.
It has only been recently that the scientific world has begun to understand this syndrome. Victims of bangungot have not been found to have any organic heart diseases or structural heart problems.
However, cardiac activity during SUDS episodes indicates irregular heart rhythms and ventricular fibrillation. The victim survives this episode if the heart's rhythm goes back to normal. Older folks in the Philippines recommend trying wiggling the big toe while experiencing this to snap back.
Ongoing genetic studies by Spanish electrophysiologist Dr. Josep Brugada Terradellas show that SUDS results from mutations in the cardiac sodium channel gene. This means that it is a chromosomal problem, which is why it runs in families. Thus, doctors say that families who have kin that have suffered from or died of SUDS must see a heart specialist.
In the Philippines, most cases of bangungot have been linked with Acute Hemorrhagic Pancreatitis, whereas in Thailand and Laos, bangungot (or in their term, Sudden Adult Death Syndrome) is caused by the Brugada syndrome.[1]
Bangungot is also depicted in the Philippines as a mythological creature called batibat. This hag-like creature sits on the victim's face so as to immobilize and suffocate him.
See also
Notes and references
- Tan, Michael (29 August, 2000), "Bangungot", Philippine Daily Inquirer, <http://pinoykasi.homestead.com/files/2000articles/08292000_Bangungot.htm>
- Tan, Michael (1 April, 2002), "Revisiting ‘bangungot’", Philippine Daily Inquirer, <http://pinoykasi.homestead.com/files/2002articles/04012002_Revisiting_bangungot.htm>
- Tan, Michael (18 April, 2002), "'Bangungot', the sequel", Philippine Daily Inquirer, <http://pinoykasi.homestead.com/files/2002articles/04182002_Banungot_sequel.htm>
- Agence France Presse (8 April, 2002), "Sleeping death syndrome terrorises young men", The Borneo Post, <http://netinc.net.my/health/s/005.htm>
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
