I have an aunt that has been in a comma since july 2004. since august of 2004 the doctors have been saying she is brain dead so the have taken her of all of the machines. what i want to know is if it is possible for some one to be brain dead and breathing on their own ( for months now) and now she makes sounds like she is mad when you was her face, she frowns also. i understand the the periodic movement of her hands and legs can come from nerves but what about everything else. she even yarns. please can you give me some answers?
This is a good link to read about comatose states. If you’re concerned about her condition, consult her doctors and see what they have to say.
tuesdae writes:
> I have an aunt that has been in a comma since july 2004.
Try to get her to move to a different punctuation mark. A slash, a dash, a colon - even a period would be better.
Now that was not very nice.
To the OP. The term “brain dead” doesn’t necessarily mean that the entire brain is not functioning at all. It means, at least, that the centers for higher cognitive processing are no longer functioning in a way to make the person to perform as “human” ever again. The basic life process brain functions are mainly based in the brain stem and may be able to still support processes like respiration even though the rest of the brain is not functioning. The brain stem also controls actions like involuntary facial movements like you report. If your aunt were given an MRI, the scan would most likely show little higher brain activity and that is most likely irreversible.
Also there are specific criteria which need to be met before the medical team can satisfy legal requirements (in the US and most of the world, although it might vary a little from nation to nation/state to state) concerned with declaring “brain death”.
As well as the other link previously posted, these might offer some clarity:
Missouri (a random state) guidelines, but easily explained
Article from HowStuffWorks - again, quite well explained
Another article, this time from TransWeb
You may notice that even amongst medical professionals, there is still some debate about the actuality of brain death. This remains a somewhat controversial topic, and one which carries an awful lot of emotional baggage.
HTH.
Many in the medical community use the term “brain dead” when the mean persistant vegetative state.
The difference is, the latter involves, mainly, the cerebral or thinking part of the brain. The person can breathe, maybe even swallow. their eyes open and blink, but don’t focus. They may make sounds, even, seemingly, to specific stimulis, but not consistantly. They may grasp with their hands, but just reflexively. They don’t respond to voice commands, or even seem to hear.
Some do appear to have “awake” and “asleep” periods.
“Brain Dead” implies the brain stem is affected. These individuals are unable to breath on their own, the have no reaction to any sort of stimuli, including (don’t try this at home, kiddies) pouring ice water into the ear.
In a relatively short time, the pitutary stops functioning. without the hormones it produces, the other organs shut down. Even supported on a ventilator, the heart stops within a matter of hours or at most 2 days.
Wendell Wagner, your comments are inappropriate for the situation. Please do not do this again.
-xash
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