Posted on 8/1/2007, 7:31:24 PM by red state girl
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A man with severe brain injuries who spent six years in a near-vegetative state can now chew his food, watch a movie and talk with family thanks to a brain pacemaker that may change the way such patients are treated, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
The 38-year-old man is the first person in a minimally conscious state to be treated with deep-brain stimulation, a treatment that uses a pacemaker and two electrodes to send impulses into a part of the brain regulating consciousness.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Oh, wow! God works in mysterious ways.
This is only partially elevant here, but reminds me of the old saw about the guy’s grandmother who’s brain was dead, but her heart was still beating. She was the first Democrat they’d ever had in the family.
Too late for terri...
Judging from the results, we are very encouraged about the potential of this technology to improve the function of these brain-injured patients,” he said.
***Ya think?
Imagine that! Maybe they should have just let him starve and dehydrate to death. (sigh)
Thank the Lord he didn’t have an abusive cheating spouse to refuse the treatment for him.
T’gal, you are so right! I’m wondering if this can help other functions, if they tweak it just right.
Humanity ping!
Wonder if this will impact treatment of others with brain injuries.
My daughter has a severe brain injury, but she is not severely handicapped. She’s doing okay despite the injury. However, her speech, hearing, and impulse control (temper tantrums) are not normal. Don’t know what we would do if we could reverse her injury. Part of her personality is what it is because of the injury, and she is a great kid.
Four minutes and twenty-one seconds. Not bad.
I guess he’ll be voting absentee in the Democratic primaries.
Conciousness is controlled by the lesser parts of the brain (cerebellum?). So, I think this device would probably be limited to people who have brain damage there. I doubt that this wuold help people who have damage to the cerebrum. Then again, I’m not an expert, just guessing.
Now there’s a good Christian thankful attitude (’I have learned in every situation to be content’). Praise God for parents like you.
Just what I was thinking and most likely Terri’s parents thinking the same thing.
Please let me know when these go “over-the-counter”. I think I could use one. Dial up for some marathon brainstorming and dial out for a restfull night’s sleep. Maybe they could build in a electronic “push/draw” option with a timer. Or a remote! Then my wife can say, “Pay attention to me this time”, and REALLY crank it up. There are all kinds of posibilities here. Of course there is always the concern about the neighbor’s remote making you break dance or pitch face forward into your dinner. Oh well, the shine’s gone now. Darn it!
Indeed. What will be really interesting is to see if this therapy induces any permanent recovery of lost brain functions, i.e. that will be retained after the device is removed. If so, improvement would likely also continue for some time after the initial improvement is seen. And if it can heal neural tissue in the brain, what other tissues could it heal? Spinal cord?
This is not completely wild speculation, since the ability of electric currents to effect and/or accelerate healing in other parts of the body is well established.
To heal a wound, turn up the voltage
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19125624.400-to-heal-a-wound-turn-up-the-voltage.html
OSTEOGENESIS STIMULATOR DEVICES TO ACCELERATE
THE HEALING OF SELECTED BONE FRACTURES
http://www.dhs.ca.gov/mcs/mcpd/MBB/Manual_of_Criteria/ADA_HTML/35_JOsteogenesisStimulatorDevices.htm
The body electric - feel the Chi, Luke. ;)
Though I happen to think the state made the wrong decision in Terri’s case, for reasons which were very sepcific to her cases, the massive structural deterioration of her brain would have precluded any benefit from something like this. Now, there’s some chance that if this had been available many years ago, and been started very shortly after her brain injury, it could have prevented or lessened that structural deterioration. But it was not available then, and she was way past hope of any recovery by the time of the first court directive to disconnect her feeding tube.
IMO, however, that was not a valid reason to disconnect her feeding tube, given that 1) the only tangible evidence of what she would have wanted was that she was a practicing Catholic, and Catholic teaching is to continue non-extraordinary care such as feeding and hydration, and 2) her parents and siblings were more than willing to care for her at their own expense. The unsubstantiated claims by her technical husband as to her prior statements about what she’d want in this sort of situation, should have been given no weight whatsoever, given his obvious conflict of interest in the case. Michael Schiavo is an awesome poster child for the principle of getting government completely out of the marriage business. That government-issued piece of paper designating them as “married” was the one and only thing that gave Michael any legal standing in the case.
This guy's condition wasn't as bad as Terri's. Minimally concious is a near vegetative state, not a permanent one. It is quite unlikely that such stimulation could have helped. Most of her brain was liquified and beyond restoration.
Sounds like it should be standard equipment for blondes.
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