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Start here => Free For ALL => Topic started by: sg1008 on March 03, 2015, 12:14:02 AM

Title: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: sg1008 on March 03, 2015, 12:14:02 AM
Kazakhstan villagers report new cases of mysterious disorder

New cases of the inexplicable disorder, dubbed “Sleepy Hollow,” have appeared in Kalachi, the village in Kazakhstan where every tenth villager, including children, has mysteriously fallen asleep in broad daylight, some unable to wake up for days on end.

"The ninth wave of the disease has started,” Amanbek Kalzhanov, head of the administration of Esil district, told Interfax. “Yesterday two people – a man and a woman – became sick. Since the outbreak of the disease 120 people have fallen ill."

According to Kalzhanov, the overall situation in Kalachi, a village in northern Kazakhstan, is under control. The local hospital is fully operational, along with a school, attended by about 40 students.

Meanwhile, most of the inhabitants of the village, which used to be home to over 600 residents, have agreed to move to other areas, local official Sergey Kulagin said.

"Of the 218 families, 124 expressed a desire to relocate. Thirty-four families (95 people), including 27 children, have already left the village," he said.

(http://rt.com/files/news/39/cc/90/00/2346534657567.jpg)

The first cases of the "sleeping epidemic" were reported in March 2013. Everyone in the village has a family member or a friend who has fallen asleep for no apparent reason, according to locals.

"If you try to wake him, it seems he wants to open his eyes – but can't. He's sleeping and sleeping..." Igor Samusenko, father of a child who is suffering from the illness, earlier told RTD.

"I'm weak, my legs feel heavy, as if I'm wearing a hundred pairs of boots, and my head is spinning," a woman told RTD. Other patients may behave "like they're drunk."

Despite numerous attempts to find the cause of the inexplicable disorder, the Sleepy Hollow riddle still remains unknown.

Groups of scientists and medics, including virologists, radiologists and toxicologists, have visited the village in an attempt to find the cause of the mystery illness, all in vain.

Last month Professor Leonid Rikhvanov, from the Department of Geo-ecology and Geo-chemistry in the city of Tomsk, said that Soviet-era uranium mines could be to blame, with radon gas from the nearby mines seeping to the surface, poisoning local residents.

(http://rt.com/files/news/39/cc/90/00/4326465876798.jpg)

Radon is a colorless, odorless gas that is created through the decay of uranium. Breathing it is believed to cause lung cancer.

"This gas, which causes toxic effects, pushes a person into a dreamlike state, and the person falls asleep," Rikhvanov said. People have described further symptoms, including hallucinations, memory loss, dizziness and nausea.

Rikhvanov said experts previously failed to detect radon because conventional methods of measuring radiation fail to detect it in the air.

(http://rt.com/files/news/39/cc/90/00/17.jpg)

While radiation levels in the town and at the mine closest to it are at a normal 16 micro-roentgen per hour, the RTD team's Geiger counter showed an alarming 268 micro-roentgen per hour at an abandoned, filled-in mineshaft further from the village. However, an independent analysis of Kalachi's water, soil, and vegetation samples did not detect any abnormalities.

People suffering from the sleeping sickness have been diagnosed with a range of diseases. While children are being treated for toxic encephalopathy (a brain malfunction), adults are said to have suffered strokes. But after several days in intensive care, they are usually back to normal – until they feel abnormally sleepy again. Some doctors assert that mass psychosis is to blame.

VIDEO:
Sleepy Hollow, Kazakhstan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiKP0HioAYs#ws)
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: Jack on March 03, 2015, 03:18:26 AM
That's weird.
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: Arya Quinn on March 03, 2015, 05:24:52 AM
Sounds scary.
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: Parts on March 03, 2015, 11:23:09 AM
I've never heard of radon affecting people that way it normally ends up giving you cancer,  it's likely something connected to the mining though just not the radon
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: Icequeen on March 03, 2015, 12:00:30 PM
Quote
Some doctors assert that mass psychosis is to blame.

I just love how when they can't find an apparent cause right away for something it becomes a psychosis.  :wanker:

No...lets play a guessing game, maybe it's a stroke, maybe it's all in their heads...WTF is wrong with just saying...we don't fucking know.




Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: sg1008 on March 03, 2015, 01:35:42 PM
WTF is wrong with just saying...we don't fucking know.

What is wrong with saying that? I honestly don't know.

 :dunno:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: Parts on March 03, 2015, 02:51:28 PM
They also tested a lot of nukes in Kazakhstan and who knows what else back during the cold war
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: odeon on March 03, 2015, 04:33:17 PM
Do they glow in the dark?
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: Parts on March 03, 2015, 05:16:15 PM
Do they glow in the dark?


Wouldn't that keep them awake :zoinks:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: 'andersom' on March 03, 2015, 05:47:41 PM
Do they glow in the dark?


Wouldn't that keep them awake :zoinks:
:lol1:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: Gopher Gary on March 03, 2015, 10:51:53 PM
Maybe they're just lazy.  :zoinks:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: odeon on March 04, 2015, 12:25:20 AM
Do they glow in the dark?


Wouldn't that keep them awake :zoinks:

Maybe, but can you imagine a more practical reading light? :zoinks:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: Hannah on March 04, 2015, 02:00:33 AM
na I just sleep for days on end with a little thing called depression  :headhurts:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: odeon on March 05, 2015, 01:25:00 PM
I'm tired. :yawn:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: Icequeen on March 05, 2015, 03:42:19 PM
Me too. :yawn:

Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: Parts on March 05, 2015, 03:43:19 PM
I'm tired. :yawn:

Have you been to Kazakhstan lately  :zoinks:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: sg1008 on March 05, 2015, 08:27:33 PM
 :GA:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: 'andersom' on March 06, 2015, 03:57:46 AM
Me too. :yawn:

Me three.

And both my kids have fallen asleep again.  :yawn:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: odeon on March 06, 2015, 03:33:20 PM
I'm tired. :yawn:

Have you been to Kazakhstan lately  :zoinks:

Right after Sierra Leone. :zoinks:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: odeon on March 06, 2015, 03:33:53 PM
Me too. :yawn:

Me three.

And both my kids have fallen asleep again.  :yawn:

OMG, it's spreading. :o

:yawn:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: Icequeen on March 06, 2015, 03:58:18 PM
We're doomed.
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: odeon on March 07, 2015, 01:49:34 AM
My kids are fast asleep as I write this.
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: sg1008 on March 09, 2015, 11:20:09 PM
:faint:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: 'andersom' on March 10, 2015, 02:10:50 AM
Kid just fell asleep. She should be on her way to school in 20 minutes.  :GA:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: sg1008 on March 10, 2015, 03:24:11 PM
Kid just fell asleep. She should be on her way to school in 20 minutes.  :GA:

It's spreading quicker than imagined!!!  :GA:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: 'andersom' on March 11, 2015, 01:57:46 AM
Kid just fell asleep. She should be on her way to school in 20 minutes.  :GA:

It's spreading quicker than imagined!!!  :GA:

She has done it again.  :CanofWorms:

Other is sleeping too, she has some kind of flu.
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: odeon on March 11, 2015, 05:34:43 AM
I wanted to reply to this but almost fell asleep.
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: Arya Quinn on March 11, 2015, 04:51:06 PM
I have trouble sleeping, but it's only a matter of time before the illness gets me too.  :GA:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: odeon on March 12, 2015, 04:16:32 PM
Not going to bed just yet. Must... stay... awake... :yawn:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: sg1008 on April 10, 2015, 09:48:59 PM
Sorry guys...I fell asleep all this time...

I'm back now :P


But, I do wonder how the villagers are doing...
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: odeon on April 12, 2015, 12:48:02 PM
Sorry guys...I fell asleep all this time...

I'm back now :P


But, I do wonder how the villagers are doing...

They're all fast asleep.
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: sg1008 on April 12, 2015, 07:20:36 PM
I wonder what they dream about....  :apondering:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: Arya Quinn on April 12, 2015, 07:50:17 PM
I wonder what they dream about....  :apondering:

Zombie cyborg monkeys maybe? I had a dream like that once.  :apondering:
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: odeon on April 12, 2015, 11:06:04 PM
Maybe they dream of electric sheep.
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: sg1008 on July 19, 2015, 09:24:09 AM
Mystery of Kazakhstan sleeping sickness solved, says government

LINK (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/17/mystery-kazakhstan-sleeping-sickness-solved)

"Now the mystery has at last been solved and the cause does indeed lie in the uranium mines, said Kazakhstan’s deputy PM, Berdibek Saparbaev. After analysing the results of medical examinations of all the residents, researchers concluded that it was caused by heightened levels of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons in the air.

“The uranium mines were closed at some point, and at times a concentration of carbon monoxide occurs there,” Saparbaev said. “The oxygen in the air is reduced accordingly, which is the real reason for the sleeping sickness in these villages.”

Evacuation of the two villages has begun, with authorities reportedly relocating 68 of 223 families so far."
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: Jack on July 19, 2015, 11:46:20 AM
Thanks for the follow-up, SG. It's good they found the cause; it was a bit bothersome to read before that it was being dismissed by some as psychological, some sort of mass hysteria or something.
Title: Re: Sleepy hollow (sickness): Kazakhstan villagers report new cases
Post by: odeon on July 19, 2015, 02:15:48 PM
It's a cover-up.