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

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

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

You talk about long covid but people forget that M.E and Fibromyalgia have been around for a long time and the symptoms are made to sound far far more trivial than they are. Those of us in those communities are hoping that long covid helps research into M.E, CFS, Fibromyalgia for once. We have been here suffering and are still here suffering.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 ❤❤❤

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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

I have M.E (CFS as a 'new name' was created as a way to trivialise our illness). We have peers currently in hospital being denied care because of the stigma around it suggesting its psychosomatic despite many studies showing biomedical problems. We have lost many of our peers, are 6x more likely to take our own lives as well. Still people minimise our illness or deny it even exists. I've so far lost 17 years and 5 months of my life to M.E, severely affected and been unable to have a life I wanted. No partner, no kids, and constant pain. Its a level of grief I cannot express that not only do we have no treatments but as well we have to deal with stigma that often causes abuse or neglect. Cruel doesn't even cut it. I hope for everyone elses kids sake that science and medicine get their heads out of the clouds and actually help our peers of tomorrow so none of them experience the pain of living the lives I and my peers do right now.😊

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!!!

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.

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.❤

My uncle got this as a child. He was "frozen" periodically. He was somewhat disabled when awake, he could walk and run with an odd gait. He was certified by doctors but my grandparents kept him at home. He could be prone to tantrums mainly from frustrations with his limitations. Physically he was very strong as a young man and could easily just swat someone away to the other side of the room. He survived until his late forties, passing away around 1958. As a side note, my father, the younger of the two contracted rheumatic fever as a child.

Great video. I've developed POTS as a post-covid condition, and while I'm mostly functional thanks to medication, the feeling of going from fairly healthy to unable to climb a hill was horrible. Thank you for the awareness on long- and post-viral conditions. I hope a good thing from COVID is more awareness & research about these things.