[SkepticalDebunker (OP)]

I came across this article last night (bad timing I know lol).

This part caught my interest:

Researchers believe that deaths caused by sleep deprivation happen due to the accumulation of waste products in the brain. Every day, our brains use up energy, and as a byproduct, they produce a hormone called adenosine which makes us sleepy. During sleep, the brain is ?cleansed? by the glymphatic system which uses cerebrospinal fluid to flush away toxic byproducts that accumulate between brain cells. In extreme cases, sleep deprivation causes a toxic build up in the brain that can eventually lead to death.

Minor correction: adenosine is not a hormone but a nucleoside. I read a similar article which mentioned that an accumulation of adenosine in the brain results in hallucinations, immune system problems, and other issues that are typically associated with sleep deprivation.

Adenosine is a CNS depressant. So it does make sense that too much of this stuff building up in your brain could be deadly. After all, lots of people die from alcohol, which is a CNS depressant. However, since the build up of adenosine is gradual in sleep deprivation, wouldn't it force you unconscious long before it built up to lethal levels? And once you're unconscious, the adenosine levels would fall?

[paul cotter]

Absolutely one can die from lack of sleep, look up "fatal familial insomnia", a genetic condition that leads to absolute insomnia and subsequent death in middle age. The brain is the only organ that needs sleep.