New information has surfaced on Michael Jackson's last days; as he tried to achieve a world record for most successful concert sequence ever, the king of pop set a different record-one that eventually brought him to his demise.
Jackson was one of the only people to ever go two months without engaging REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Dr. Conrad Murray distributed 60 nights of propofol infusions to the star for insomnia treatment-a move that some sleep experts claim no other has ever endured.
According to CNN, propofol changes a normal sleep cycle, cancelling out REM slumber-a type of shut-eye necessary to keep the brain and body moving-while still giving the consumer the feeling of a good night's sleep.
Dr. Charles Czeisler of the Harvard Medical School spoke on the stand during the wrongful death trial of concert promoter AEG live, saying that if Jackson did not pass away from overdosing on anesthetic, the missing REM sleep could very well have killed him soon after anyway.
Jackson's mother and children are in the midst of suing AEG live, with claims that the company was responsible for Michael Jackson's death. Jackson's family contends that the company hired and kept on Dr. Murray, who received charges of involuntary manslaughter. According to the family, AEG Live kept pushing Murray to find a way to get Michael Jackson into rehearsals, despite a whole host of warnings that Jackson was mentally and physically unfit for work.
Czeisler said in court on Thursday that the "drug induced coma" that propofol gives does not reap any genuine benefits that true sleep does.
"It would be like eating some sort of cellulose pellets instead of dinner," he said. "Your stomach would be full and you would not be hungry, but it would be zero calories and not fulfill any of your nutrition needs."
Lab rats usually die around five weeks after being deprived of REM sleep. No other human being experienced such a long period of no real sleep until Dr. Murray administered propofol infusions every night for two months.
A person devoid of REM sleep for a certain amount of time goes through paranoia, anxiety, depression, an inability to retain information and distraction, Czeisler said while on the stand. They lose huge amounts of weight and their appetite, as physical reflexes grow 10 times slower while emotional responses become 10 times stronger, CNN reported him saying.
These symptoms bear resemblance to Jackson's behavior during his last days.
Meanwhile, AEG maintains that Jackson himself chose Dr. Murray as his medical attendant. They say they had no idea, nor could they have known, about the high amount of propoful Murray was giving Michael before his death in 2009.
The trial will continue on Friday.
