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InTheEndEntropyWins t1_izsd4uk wrote

They would get ill. We don't know if they would die. There is a disease(Fatal insomnia) that stops some people sleeping and they end up dying but it's not clear if it's caused by the disease rather than lack of sleep.

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slouchingtoepiphany t1_izshje6 wrote

I just looked it up, apparently there are two forms of Fatal Insomnia, one of them is inherited (autosomal dominant) and the other is caused by a prion (I didn't know that). There's a little more info available here: https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/neurologic-disorders/prion-diseases/fatal-insomnia

However, it's known that, during sleep, the extent for gene expression in the brain rises and it's believed that the resulting proteins partially underlie the anatomical basis for memory and other developmental changes in the brain.

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Phatigus t1_izutoaz wrote

We certainly do know. If you have absolutely zero sleep, you die.

Most ailments that severely impact sleep make it ‘likely’ that they died from lack of sleep, but not for sure. An easy way to tell is physically stop someone from sleeping, which has become more common than water boarding or other traditional forms of torture. 5-6 days of 100% wakefulness and they die.

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Tectum-to-Rectum t1_izv4x9h wrote

Total sleep deprivation ultimately causes death. We’ve demonstrated it over and over again in animal studies.

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