The Mystery of the Sleepy Sickness
The hosts explore encephalitis lethargica, also known as the sleepy sickness, a mysterious early 20th-century epidemic that caused profound sleep disturbances, movement disorders, psychiatric changes, and often death. They explain von Economo's classification of acute and chronic forms, the later emergence of post-encephalitic parkinsonism, and how Oliver Sacks's work with L-DOPA inspired the book and film 'Awakenings.' The episode reviews competing theories about the disease's cause and transmission, modern autoimmune hypotheses, and the haunting experience of patients who were conscious yet immobile for decades.
Oct 2, 2025
Society & Culture