Imagine being completely paralyzed in your body but fully conscious. You can hear everything going around you but you have no way to signal to the outside world that you are awake. This man did that (or rather nothing) for 23 years.
The man was involved in a 1983 car crash and diagnosed as being in a coma. Initial brain scans failed to pick-up his conscious brain activity. Both his family and caregivers attempted to communicate with him, but eventually gave up and assumed his vegetative state was permanent. Over the years, the doctors used the internationally used Glasgow Coma Scale to assess his condition. It tests eye, verbal and motor assessments to determine brain function, however, doctors still failed to miss signs his brain was fully functioning. Just three years ago, doctors used a "state of the art scanning system" that detected his consciousness.
Steven Laureys, a neurologist in Belgium says that of 44 diagnosed comatose patients he examined, 18 showed responses to communication. In about 40% of vegetative cases, closer examination shows a certain level of consciousness. He has also published a paper on the misdiagnoses of vegetative states.
This is not only TERRIFYING for the patient to be considered unresponsive by the outside world, but shines a new perspective on the decision for people who are considered comatose and are taken off life support. Eep.
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