According to an ancient mythical legend, Ondine, a celestial nymphfalls in love and marries a mortal human. Later when she discoversthat the lowly human is unfaithful, she bestows a curse on him. Thiscurse is famous as Ondine’s curse which translates into; inability tobreath while in sleep, maintaining normal breathing when awake.So the doomed mythical human is destined to die when he fallsasleep. As for the scientifc paradigm; Ondine’s curse hovers arounda medical condition which do exist in form of Central AlveolarHypoventilation (CAH). Patients having CAH cannot maintain regularrespiration and may even go into apnea while in sleep.
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