The man who never sleeps
04-03-2012
All of us at one time or another has wished that we could go without sleep. Generally it is when we have a big deadline or just want to fit more hours into the day. However, there are not many of us that would want to stop sleeping forever. Not only is there something nice about checking out for 7 or 8 hours each day, but also the world around us is geared for this lull in life and being awake 24 hours a day would be frustrating as everyone else is asleep and the world slows down.
There is one man, however, who has forsaken sleep. Thai Ngoc, a Vietnamese farmer, has not sleep in 38 years. A feat that calls into question almost everything science thinks it knows about sleep.
Thai Ngoc was not always an insomniac, but almost four decades ago he contracted a severe fever and though no one knows what caused that fever, his life has never been the same again since. He has not slept a single night in the past 38 years, despite trying virtually everything to help drift off, form western medicine, traditional medicine and other more pragmatic methods like alcohol.
He shows no ill effect from this lack of sleep, but even though he puts the time to good use, he still wishes he could sleep like the rest of us.
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