Posted on 08/01/2007 11:00:27 AM PDT by ElkGroveDan
NEW YORK - A brain-damaged man who could communicate only with slight eye or thumb movements for six years can speak again, after stimulating electrodes were placed in his brain, researchers report.
The 38-year-old also regained the ability to chew and swallow, which allows him to be spoon-fed, rather than relying on nourishment through a tube in his belly.
The man's brain was injured during an assault, he spent six years with only occasional signs of consciousness and no useful movement of his limbs. In an experiment, researchers implanted electrodes in his brain for a procedure called deep brain stimulation, which is routinely done for Parkinson's disease and some other illnesses.
They turned the electrodes on and off over six months to test their effect, and reported the results in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. The man, who was not identified at the family's request, now has them on throughout the day.
Experts called the report exciting but cautioned that the approach must be tested in more people before its value can be known. The researchers have already begun a study of additional patients.
Before the electrodes were implanted the man was in what doctors call a "minimally conscious state." That means he showed only occasional awareness of himself and the environment. In a coma or vegetative state, by contrast, patients show no outward signs of awareness.
There are no firm statistics on how many Americans are in a minimally conscious state, but one estimate suggests 112,000 to 280,000. Doctors may try medications to improve their condition but no drugs have been firmly established as helpful.
The man described in the Nature study speaks in a breathy but audible voice, said Dr. Joseph Giacino, a co-lead author. He does not initiate conversations but can reply to others, typically with one to three words, said Giacino, of the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison, N.J.
Several weeks ago he recited the first half of the Pledge of Allegiance without assistance, Giacino said.
The man also recovered some movement. He can demonstrate motions such as brushing his teeth, said study lead author Dr. Nicholas Schiff of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. He can't actually carry out that task because the tendons in his arms contracted after years of immobility.
"He is still totally dependent and severely disabled," Schiff said.
But the treatment has helped him, the man's mother said in a statement. "Now, my son can eat, express himself and let us know if he is in pain. He enjoys a qualify of life we never thought possible," she said.
Dr. James Bernat, a professor of neurology at Darmouth Medical School who didn't participate in the new work, called the Nature report exciting and important. Further study is needed to shed light on how many patients would respond and how to identify the minimally conscious patients with the best chance of being helped, he said.
He noted that a similar treatment did not help Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman in a vegetative state whose care triggered national controversy before her death in 2005. That's the typical outcome for electrical brain stimulation in vegetative states, he said.
Dr. Ross Zafonte of the University of Pittsburgh, who also was familiar with the study results, agreed that "we need to know more" and said the approach is "very interesting and holds great promise."
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I don’t think that DBS is done ROUTINELY for Parkinsons patients...it really is a last ditch effort and the operation can also have bad outcomes....
sorry for your terrible family situation.....as far as I am concerned, there are no wrong decisions as long as the decisions are made with love and respect.....
Did you read the article? Specifically about the difference between a minimally conscious state and a vegetative state?
I'm not going to rehash the whole Schiavo debate here for the death cult Freepers.
amen!
A) The human system is incredibly flexible and dynamic.
B) Human technology is expanding at light speed.
C) Never say never. Tomorrow is another day.
His first words were ‘Stop with the $%&^$&! electrodes already.”
I’m not going to rehash the whole Schiavo debate here for the death cult Freepers.
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I don’t really give a rat’s behind what you do or do not do. I asked you a question, you chose to answer with a question that I actually bothered to answer. Your best response then is to charge with me a purely semantic argument, and call me a death cult freeper, never actually bothering to address the topic that you posted a thread about. OK.
Ping...
Did you read the article. Minimally conscious patients are only aware some of the time, just like Terri Schiavo. The fact that Terri was only aware some of the time has been one of your side’s biggest excuses for killing her. Now you want to change your mind, because it isn’t working for you.
Ping.
Therefore, this case is ENTIRELY comparable to the Schiavo case. I am sure that if enough money were at stake and enough lawyers involved someone could easily have made a good case to kill this poor man several years ago, inculding a self-serving oral recollection that "it's what he would have wanted."
Same treatment Terri got. I recently read an old article in the St. Pete Times in which Michael announced the treatment (which was recent at that time) was working for Terri. Now I can't find that article. I got the link from another FReeper. Maybe they'll post it here.
The fact that Terri was only aware some of the time has been one of your side’s biggest excuses for killing her.
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How is it that you know what “side” I am on? Have we ever spoken on this topic? Have you mined my 5900+ FR posts to come up with anything I’ve said on the Terri Schiavo topic?
I can answer for you. You don’t know what side I am on. No, we have never spoken on this topic, and no, you’ve not mined my posting history for anything on this topic.
In other words, you know spit about me and my thoughts on this topic. That I can recognize a difference between this situation and Terri’s is not surprising because, stay with me, they are different situations.
He asked his doctors if they could put in a USB port so he can download lecture notes for exams next semester..the doctors said they aren't that far along yet.
The surgery sucks, but it's worth it.
bttt
The President of what?
There are only two sides. That you pretend not to see the similarity between the identical treatment they both benefitted from reveals which side you’re on.
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