Bangungot or sudden unexpected death is a condition observed by people living in Eastern Asian countries. Bangungot is a term which means “bad dream” or “nightmare” is originated from the Philipines. It is a silent killer that mostly affects men.
Although this condition has claimed many lives in East Asia, it is still rather uncommon among the western countries. In Eastern Asia as well as South East Asia, cases are more common among people who are in their adolescence and adulthood.
Despite the deadly condition, these people still do not know how it occurs. Some believes that sleeping right after eating rice causes the sudden death, and this is one reason widely believed among the people living in the Philippines.
What Causes Bangungot
Latest scientific studies have shown that bangungot condition is in fact linked to Acute Hemorrhagic Pancreatitis, the sudden inflammation of the pancreas. Researchers have found that there is no structural heart problem or what so ever in victims of the condition.
However, there are symptoms of irregular heart rhythms found to be causing the victim to lose consciousness while sleeping. It is more of a genetic problem which may run in families. Therefore, it would be wise for someone who have family history of bangungot to see heart specialist to rule of any underlying issues before it is too late. Even if someone has a case history of the problem among the family members, there are certain things that one can do to help reduce the risk of getting one.
Bangungot Prevention
Several medical specialists from Japan, China as well as other Asian countries have indicated that eating noodles before sleeping is one of the most common causes of this problem. It isn’t the noodle that kills the victim, but the dehydration caused as a result of eating noodles.
By eating these foods (and also alcoholic beverages) could create an electrolyte imbalance in the body thereby causing the body to lose water and dehydrates. Hence, it would be advisable to avoid eating noodles right before going to sleep. Take at least two hours for the body to digest the noodles before bedtime. In addition to that, studies have also found that going thirsty when going to bed is also a bad idea.
It can also trigger bangungot when your body dehydrates during the 8 hour sleep. So, better forget about the frequent bathroom trips as a result of drinking too much water before hitting the sack. Drink at least one or two tall glass of water before bed is advisable.
is this true?
I mean, i eat a lot of noodles ( idk is instant noodles count such as Lucky me Pancit canton, brand from the Philippines ) before going to bed, but i dont experience such things.
just make sure to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water.
I’ve recently been experiencing bangungot and I’m seriously freaking out, I just woke up from one, and I’m afraid to go to sleep, is there some type of doctor I can talk to?
I also experiencing bangungot these past few days, I do eat lot of rice before sleeping and only drink less of water, when I go to sleep I experienced this kind of condition. It so hard for me to sleep because I don’t have a company in my room that will wake me up when I experienced this.
i guess my body is immune already of bangungot, but was curious why is it.
i had have this type of thing but i haddnt had noddles or rice.it was the feeling of want to talk, but couldn’t, wantin to get up and dint move.
i shared this article with my facebook’s friends to inform them,i hope you dont mind.=) my friend doesn’t believe that eating too much before bedtime causes digestive failure, well i hope he’d read this article.
Bangungot in english, Bad Dream? Wrong. The correct term for english is Sleep Paralysis. The mind is awake but the body is asleep. During sleep paralysis not enough oxygen reaches the brain which triggers hallucination, most common is like there is a devil on top of you. I had this experience myself. I really thought for many years the devil visits me when i sleep. I even heard a deep voice laughing. It’s just hallucination. No such devil exist. My remedy is to not sleep on my back, i sleep sideways and i don’t face the wall. And when you are having an attack, think of something to distract your hallucination. Read more about sleep paralysis. And don’t forget bangungot is not nightmare. Nightmare is masamang panaginip. Bangungot is sleep paralysis.
Me myself always experience this during sleep. Good thing about it, i able to fight over it and wake myself, but there is some instances that i thought it’s already my end and when i able to wake up, i feel so tired and drain and running out breat and i feel my fast heart beat. Sooner or later i’ll be visiting a doctor to seek more advise about it.