Have Some Come Out of Comas?

Factual Questions
1

Ok, your brain may not be the same, but can one come out of a coma? Maybe some medical SDopers have some factual info to share? Extra credit for cites!

2

Yes, people come out of comas all the time. In fact, indefinite comas are pretty unusual.

3

Friedo, do you have a cite for this? It would be of great help, thanks! I need to read up on such cases. Meanwhile, I’ll do my own Googling ASAP.

4

Here is Wikipedia’s overview. They say

You can find lots of news articles about waking from comas if you search Google News or another news sites. You will probably also find some articles about doctors deliberately inducing comas for certain reasons. Obviously, they want their patients to wake up eventually.

5

Here you go . Pole recovering from 19-year coma…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6715313.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6715313.stm

6

This wasn’t directed towards me but it is a pretty weird question. I am surprised that you don’t know a few people yourself that have come out of a coma. It is far from rare. The way you asked for a cite leads me to believe that your actual question is different from the one as stated literally in your OP.

Do you mean very long term comas? Most comas only last a few days and people recover from them every day. One of my best friends got hit by a train and was in a coma for about 2 months. He recovered from it but has some permanent brain damage.

7

Happens all the time - and some of the stories are amazing. For a good fictional example, see Stephen King’s The Dead Zone.

8

You…don’t UNDERSTAND. You’re…wasting COFFEE!

9

Perhaps, instead of comas, the OP meant Persistant Vegitative State. Comas are not what he things they are.

10

There was a recent one about a firefighter who emerged from a coma after a couple years.

http://www.rd.com/stories/drama/firefighter-true-story-of-recovery/article.html

11

The question as posed is really, really obvious: Of course people come out of comas. They may suffer brain damage which may or may not heal over time, however. Even the most cursory research into the subject will tell you that.

Telemark: Well, he could mean a lot of things. Catatonia (some cases, at least) comes to mind, for instance, as does sleeping sickness and encephalitis lethargica (specifically, the akinetic mutism of acute cases which can also be caused by CJD).

12

And that rescued Sago miner in West Virginia was in a coma and not expected to recover, but did:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-01-25-miner-coma_x.htm

This is an older article, as I recall he went on to speak and begin walking again.