"Scott has been able to show he has a conscious, thinking mind. We have scanned him several times and his pattern of brain activity shows he is clearly choosing to answer our questions. We believe he knows who and where he is...."
"Asking a patient something important to them has been our aim for many years. In future we could ask what we could do to improve their quality of life. It could be simple things like the entertainment we provide or the times of day they are washed and fed."
November 13, 2012
"A Canadian man who was believed to have been in a vegetative state for more than a decade, has been able to tell scientists that he is not in any pain."
"It's the first time an uncommunicative, severely brain-injured patient has been able to give answers clinically relevant to their care."
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33 comments:
So, this guy can give answers and Hillary and the General can't?
Terri Schiavo was unavailable for comment.
He's not in any pain, but he's bored shitless.
Dutcher, you beat me. Word for word.
When it is human, you have to err on the side of compassion and respect life.
What a fascinating case. I wonder what his level of consciousness is, and what his wishes are on being kept alive in a vegetative state?
So they claim he said he was not in pain? He made no such claim! They deduced from the pictures that he said something.
How they can know whether he said yes or no, at least in my uneducated mind, is at best a guess.
I wonder what kind of brain damage these people are currently subject to. Ms. Schiavo's brain, as an example, had considerable damage as revealed post-mortem. There would not have been much to scan as questions were asked.
This is a very cool development, however. I notice it was done at Western, which prompts my usual response when hearing of that University: Why is the University of Western Ontario in southeast Ontario?
We really don't know much about the actual state and function of the brains we term "vegetative." It's a purely clinical diagnosis based on signs and symptoms, not a true functional assessment.
Terry Schiavo's post-mortem was done after she had been dehydrated to death. That affects the state of one's brain. It's something that has always bothered me. How much of her post-mortem findings were due to severe hypernatremia from starvation/dehydration?
What happens when they ask him "do you want us to euthanize you"
Hey, this whether this man felt pain is all "above Obama's paygrade."
Therefore, he should be killed without any hesitation.
Leftist logic, everyone!
tim maguire said...
Dutcher, you beat me. Word for word.
I am proud to walk in your footsteps, sir.
pduggie said...
What happens when they ask him "do you want us to euthanize you"
They don't.
He doesn't exist anymore, just a drag on the State.
He'll hear them tell a nurse, "Pull it at midnight".
Swell.
Next question: Do you want to get off life support and starve to death?
Why is the University of Western Ontario in southeast Ontario?
Why is Manhattan College in the Bronx?
Why is California University in Pennsylvania?
edutcher said...
Terri Schiavo was unavailable for comment.
But Cedarford sure the hell was.
Argument stater: Keeping him alive is expensive. Should we? (give some reason for your answer)
Can you get these scientists to say "Hi!" to garage for me?
Why is Transylvania University in Kentucky?
Why is Transylvania University in Kentucky?
mark said...
Argument stater: Keeping him alive is expensive. Should we? (give some reason for your answer)
For starters, we could ask him if he wants to die. Whether he says yes or no would be the place to start.
Why is Transylvania University in Kentucky?
Transylvania was chartered in 1780 when Kentucky was still a part for Virginia and Dracula was little known. I know several kids who have gone to school there, including a niece. It's in the heart of Lexington, a city with a near fatal traffic flow problem, surrounded by horse farms and not much else to offer except great basketball and horrible college football.
From the Transylvania website:
"The name Transylvania comes from Latin and means “across the woods” — a good description of the vast, heavily forested area between the Ohio and Cumberland rivers first settled by American colonists in the 1770s. A group of pioneers (whose chief scout was Daniel Boone) chose the name Transylvania Colony when they established a settlement near modern-day Lexington. "
I spent years trying to find the University of Lawsonomy.
Or so they think.
It's touching that they want to improve his quality of life.
Their experiment. For the improvement of science and promotion of their careers.
Someone put out a press release about this. Not likely the patient.
Wasn't there a case like this a year ago that turned out to be complete garbage?
The infinite mystery of life.
University of western Ontario is in southwestern Ontario.
The teachers college there is althouse college.
The researcher is is originally from Cambridge but came to western because of better research money...western is London Ontario which is on the river Thames.
This is sometimes called "vigilant coma" and there was such a case at the LA County hospital many years ago. She was a young woman with carbon monoxide poisoning. She was thought to be in a vegetative state for several months, maybe a year, and many inappropriate comments were made at her bedside.
Eventually, someone noticed that she was responding, first by tearing. Over a period of several months she recovered and proceeded to recount to several professors things they had said at her bedside and she had remembered.
That case was used in teaching for years to warn students about patient's hearing. I have had patients tell me what I said while they were under anesthesia.
edutcher said...
Terri Schiavo was unavailable for comment.
==========
What was Terri Schiavo died when the part of Schiavo brain that was her died within minutes of her heart attack - not 15 years later when the husk stopped being fed and watered.
As for the Canadian - supposedly congitive and aware as Tom DeLay or Bill Frist or the average RTL fanatic - if he is aware - have the seers claiming he communicated he feels no pain asked him if he wants to die or stay on tubes fr decades more??
When asked if he was comfortable, he shrugged his shoulders and replied "I make a good living."
Crap, I thought you said blink the left eye.
Ahhh the new shamans
"I have had patients tell me what I said while they were under anesthesia."
What's worse is to have a nurse tell you what you said while doped up and on a spinal for a hernia repair.
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