Man Partly Wakes From 15-Year Vegetative State—What It Means

[Thesauron]

Man Partly Wakes From 15-Year Vegetative State—What It Means

 

After a person spends a year in a vegetative state, the condition is considered permanent—there will never be someone “in there” again.

 

That’s why it’s so surprising French researchers were able to boost the consciousness of a patient who had spent 15 years in a vegetative state following a car accident. Brains aren’t supposed to work that way. (National Geographic)

 

 

 

[Shawnster]

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/dancing-stars-victoria-arlen-journey-back-paralysis/story?id=49950151

 

Quote

For Victoria Arlen, "Dancing With the Stars" is more than just another reality competition show, it's a reminder of what she's overcome in her young life.

 

The 22-year-old Paralympian swimmer and ESPN personality blogged for People magazine right before the Season 25 premiere on Monday night. She said that after she was diagnosed with two rare autoimmune conditions at age 11, her parents used "Dancing" to inspire her through her serious health struggles.

 

Her diagnosis more than a decade ago, she said, included transverse myelitis and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. The two conditions, according to the Mayo and Cleveland clinics, affect the spinal cord and brain and can cause "paralysis, sensory problems" and even trigger coma.

 

Arlen said the conditions left her in a vegetative state for almost four years.

 

 

 

4 years in a vegetative state!  I wonder if this is different than a typical vegetative state?  

 

 

 

 

 

[Thesauron]

2 hours ago, Shawnster said:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/dancing-stars-victoria-arlen-journey-back-paralysis/story?id=49950151

 

 

 

4 years in a vegetative state!  I wonder if this is different than a typical vegetative state?  

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not a medical doctor, but I think they are talking about two different things. Persistent/permanent vegetative state (PVS) is a somewhat confusing term, as it is used differently by law professionals, laymen, and medical professionals. But usually you are talking about a state above coma. When you’re in a coma there is no sign of any awareness or wakefulness. is a clinical condition of complete unawareness of the self and the environment, accompanied by sleep-wake cycles, with either complete or partial preservation of hypothalamic and brain-stem autonomic functions. In addition, patients in a vegetative state show no evidence of sustained, reproducible, purposeful, or voluntary behavioral responses to visual, auditory, tactile, or noxious stimuli; show no evidence of language comprehension or expression; have bowel and bladder incontinence; and have variably preserved cranial-nerve and spinal reflexes. As time goes by, the changes that they will wake up fully diminish. Some set the limit at 3 months, but the National Geographic article sets it at about a year. I don’t know how the situation of the Paralympic athlete mentioned in your article is viewed by the medical profession. I know too little about the subject.

Edited September 26, 2017 by Thesauron

[well]

As English is not my native language, I come to know what is called as vegetative state here... Have been learned a lot of terms in jw talk...

 

Btw, I thought it was something related to being vegan...