This is exactly right.

Typically, one day in middle age, the sufferer finds that he has begun to sweat.

A look in the mirror will show that his pupils have shrunk to pinpricks and he is holding

his head in an odd, stiff way.

Constipation is common, the women suddenly enter menopause and the men become impotent.

The sufferer begins to have trouble sleeping and tries compensating with a nap in the afternoon

but to no avail.

His blood pressure and pulse have become elevated and his body is an overdrive.

Over the ensuing months, he tries desperately to sleep, sometimes closing his eyes but never

succeeding and falling into more than a light stupor.

Their exhaustion is immense, beyond comprehension.

Once the sufferer can no longer sleep, a downward progression ensues as he loses his ability

to walk or balance.

This most tragic, the ability to think remains intact, sufferers know what is happening.

At first they can talk about it and even write down their thoughts.

After a few more months, some lose this level of functioning.

Once their bodies shut down, only the desperate look in their eyes shows that they know what

is going on.

But others can talk in reason until the end.

In the terminal phase, usually about 15 months after the disease has begun, they fall into

a state of exhaustion resembling a coma and die.

Oh, yeah.

...