Doctor prescribed drug cocktail to stimulate man's brain (comatose firefighter)

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A brain-injured firefighter who started speaking after almost a decade of near-total silence has had moments of clarity but nothing as dramatic as that first long conversation Saturday, his wife said Wednesday.

But she and his doctor remain hopeful. Don Herbert's startling improvment came three months after his medication was changed.

Herbert, who will turn 44 Saturday, went without oxygen for several minutes after being trapped under a collapsed roof while fighting a house fire in December 1995. He spent 2-1/2 months in a coma, was blind and had little memory.

But last Saturday, he suddenly asked for his wife, Linda. And over the next 14-16 hours, until he fell into a 30-hour sleep early Sunday, he talked with her, his four sons and other family and friends, catching up on what he'd missed.

''He has had several infrequent moments of lucidity, which has given us much hope for further recovery,'' Linda Herbert said at a news conference at Erie County Medical Center. Even though his communication since then hasn't been as profound, she said, it is still at a level ''considerably higher than before Saturday.''

The family had said that Herbert, a father of four, was stunned that nearly a decade had passed. His youngest son was just 4 when the accident happened.

At Wednesday's news conference, Dr. Jamil Ahmed said Herbert was put on new medication three months ago that he thought might take six months to be effective. When Ahmed examined him on Saturday, Herbert could follow commands such as shaking his head and counting to 200.

Ahmed tried a combination of three medicines usually used to treat Parkinson's disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression. He said the cocktail was meant to stimulate neurotransmitters.

Wife 'overwhelmed' as man speaks after 10 years
May 5, 2005

The wife of a brain-damaged firefighter said it was "overwhelming" to hear her husband speak after nearly 10 years of silence, a startling revival his doctor credited to a new drug treatment.

Donald Herbert, 43, of Buffalo, New York, suddenly snapped to attention on Saturday after years of sitting silently in a wheelchair at his nursing home. He stunned staff by asking where his wife, Linda, was.

Linda Herbert was summoned to the nursing home, where the injured firefighter engaged family and friends in a 14-hour visit.

Yesterday, Linda Herbert told a news conference that hearing her husband speak again was "overwhelming".

"He thought he had been away for three months," she said. "He was very surprised to find it was nine-and-a half years."
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Herbert was injured in a December 1995 apartment blaze when the roof crashed down as he searched for victims. He went without oxygen for about six minutes before he was rescued.

Dr Jamil Ahmed, a physician at Erie County Medical Centre, credited Herbert's startling revival to a new drug programme he started three months ago, along with the Herbert family's unswerving belief that he would recover.

Ahmed said Herbert had been "almost in a persistent vegetative state" when he began treating him two-and-a-half years ago.

"I was surprised that he was talking, and talking so sensibly," Ahmed said, refusing to identify the drugs Herbert receives in order to protect his privacy. - Reuters.

L-Deprenil, I wouldn't be surprised could have been one of them? Quite amazing stuff. Maybe Lithium too. Studies I have read about say that about 10% brain mass can return with consistent therapeutic dosage. Just some guesses. Also, it shouldn't be too long before they can give him his own adult stem cells specialized in brain cells and he could have near miraculous results.

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