What We Don't Know About the Injured Brain Can Kill Us
This story demonstrates, yet again, that people who are diagnosed as profoundly cognitively impaired may merely be unable to communicate. A man described as being in a minimally conscious state has regained the ability to talk and eat after his brain was stimulated with electrodes. From the story:
A few thoughts: First, let us all give thanks for this man's improvement. What a wonderful joy for the family.A man who spent six years unable to talk, eat or walk as a result of severe brain damage has made a remarkable recovery thanks to a revolutionary implant of electrodes deep in his brain.
The 38-year-old had been written off by one doctor as a vegetable but he is now able to talk, laugh, drink, chew and carry out simple tasks such as brushing his teeth.
The man had been left in a "minimally conscious state" after being beaten up and robbed. He was unable to speak audibly and could only communicate by a nod, or tiny eye or finger movements.
He was also unable to chew or swallow, and had to be fed through a tube. His eyes mostly remained shut...
The implant was carried out in February 2005 and the brain continues to be stimulated by the electrodes. Now the patient can manage the first 16 words of the US Pledge of Allegiance, without being helped, and the team expects to see further improvement, notably after surgery to improve his ability to move. The team hopes to carry out the operation on a dozen patients in a preliminary trial.
Second, no one should ever be "written off" as a "vegetable." The V-word is a terrible epithet that should be considered a pejorative akin to the N-word since it is explicitly designed to denigrate and dehumanize the person to whom it is applied. No human being is a carrot or a turnip and all deserve proper care for as long as they live.
Third, many would have totally supported the patient's family having his feeding tube removed. How many people are dead today who might have gone on to marked improvement had the doctors waited to "pull the tube?"
Fourth, some may be thinking, if only they had tried this with Terri Schiavo. Actually, they did, circa 1990. It didn't work.
Finally, let's hear from the family of this fortunate fellow:
The patient's mother gave a message today to "all the mothers out there" with sons and daughters trapped in the same state: "Don't give up--there is hope."Indeed.
Labels: Cognitive Impairment. Treatment.
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 6:11 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
This from Bobby Schindler, published here with his permission:
"Wesley,
I read about the man who responded to the implant of electrodes in the media and also on your blog.
I would agree that this was similar to Terri’s procedure, however I don’t believe it’s accurate to make the general statement that Terri had this type of procedure and that it didn’t work.
One is that the procedure/technology used on this man compared to Terri’s is 16 years outdated. This could explain (by looking at the pictures) why the placement of the electrodes on this man was in a different area of the brain than Terri’s. Also, the device (again by looking at the pictures) used on this person is very much different than what was used on Terri. Not to mention what else might have changed with this technology in the 16 years subsequent to Terri’s procedure.
Most importantly, however, was that the doctor involved with Terri’s procedure believed that it was in fact working and suggested that Terri be moved to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, which was better equipped with the rehabilitation that she needed (Michael reluctantly admitted this in one of his depositions). This, of course, is what caused the rift between Schiavo and my parents when my father confronted him specifically on getting Terri to Shands and we all know now that he refused.
Bobby
There was quite a bit of brain activity on the tests on this man. I'm bothered by the designation of Minimally Conscious State in the first place.
But the story is still great!
When I was in residency, we had a patient who couldn't talk due to abnormal brain waves in the speech center. Unfortunately for him, an alcoholic and drug user, so the first assumption was anything but the unusual seizure activity which had no other external evidence. We worked through the usual vitamin deficiency and stroke work up before getting to the EEG. We gave him IV anti-seizure meds in the ICU and he began speaking clearly and easily and the EEG normalized.
It's a wonderful thing to see.
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