Other risks include congestive heart failure, stroke, orterminal illnessessuch as lung failure.
Seizures, drug overdoses, or carbon monoxide poisoning also may lead to nocturnal death, often without warning.
Cardiac Causes
Cardiac arrest pops up if the heart suddenly stops beating.
Oktay Ortakcioglu / StockPhoto
Without immediate medical treatment, sudden cardiac death will occur within minutes.
The risk of death is higher during sleep simply because the emergency medical response is usually too late.
Heart attack, heartarrhythmia, congestive heart failure, and stroke all can lead to sudden cardiac arrest.
How Quick Is Death From Heart Failure?
Arrhythmias
The charge required to fire off heart muscle in a synchronized way can become disrupted.
Ventricular rhythms, including ventriculartachycardia, may become fatal.
Cardiac blocks affecting the electrical pattern may also lead to heart dysfunction and death.
They continue to study potential genetic reasons for these deaths, which often occur in young males.
If the heart experiences volume overload, its ability to circulate blood may stop.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, may increase the risk.
If a stroke impacts the brainstem, breathing, eye-opening, muscle control, and consciousness may be compromised.
These strokes may be fatal and can occur in sleep.
Is It Painful When You Die in Your Sleep?
Heart attack and respiratory failure may cause pain leading up to death.
When the imbalance is critical enough, respiratory arrest can occur.
This can also place excessive strain on the heart and cause it to progressively fail.
Diabetes also can be linked with other illnesses that lead to nocturnal death, such as heart disease.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoningfrom faulty ventilation may cause death byasphyxiation.
See a healthcare provider for an evaluation.
Choking
It is possible to choke to death while sleeping.
This can occur if a person vomits during a nighttime seizure or after too much alcohol.
Certain health conditions, like obstructive sleep apnea, may increase the risk of choking in your sleep.
These include strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, and arrhythmias that can all result in sudden death.
Though unlikely, it is possible for OSA to cause fatal asphyxiation, or choking.
Parasomnias that can have fatal outcomes include:
Parasomnias affect both children and adults.
Summary
It is rare to die in your sleep without having been diagnosed with a terminal condition.
You might have risk factors like epilepsy, though, that increase the possibility of nocturnal death.
Check your home for carbon monoxide leaks and talk to your healthcare provider about medications.
Weaver LK.Carbon Monoxide Poisoning (Reprinted from the 2023 Hyperbaric Indications Manual 15th edition).Undersea Hyperb Med.
2024 Third Quarter;51(3):253-276.
2021 Jun;8(1):e000656.
American Heart Association.About cardiac arrest.
American Heart Association.Warning Signs of a Heart Attack.
2025 Mar;22(3):844-851. doi:10.1016/j.hrthm.2024.08.018.
2024 Apr;26(4):707-729. doi:10.1002/ejhf.3236
Mass General Brigham.End-stage heart failure.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Risk factors for stroke.
2016;138(5).
2020 May;63(8):16261636. doi:10.1007/s00125-020-05173-w
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Carbon monoxide poisoning.
Kripke DF.Hypnotic drug risks of mortality, infection, depression, and cancer: but lack of benefit.F1000Res.
2016;5:918. doi:10.12688/f1000research.8729.3
Mount Sinai.Concussion - what to ask your doctor - adult.
Brain Trauma Foundation.Frequently asked questions.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.Understanding the dangers of alcohol overdose.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Sleep apnea treatment.
2017 Sep;58(9):e127-e131.
2018 Dec;10(12):e3807.
