In a coma, a person is unconscious, alive, but unresponsive, with minimal brain activity, appearing to be in a deep sleep with closed eyes, unable to react to sound, touch, or pain, though basic reflexes and breathing might remain. While often perceived as a total shutdown, some brain activity persists, and studies suggest loved ones talking to them can help, as the brain may process familiar voices and sounds, potentially aiding recovery. A coma is caused by severe illness or injury, requires intensive medical care, and the person's state can transition to other states like vegetative or minimally conscious states.
The experience of being in a coma differs from person to person. Some people feel they can remember events that happened around them while they were in a coma. Others have no memory of events.
Can I hear or remember things that happened while I was in a coma? It's possible. Some people in a coma can hear what's happening around them and even remember parts of it later. But this varies a lot and is hard to predict.
The symptoms of a coma commonly include: Closed eyes. Depressed brainstem reflexes, such as pupils not responding to light. No responses of limbs except for reflex movements.
People in a coma are completely unresponsive. They do not move, do not react to light or sound and cannot feel pain. Their eyes are closed. The brain responds to extreme trauma by effectively 'shutting down'.
In a coma, a patient is alive and there is some brain activity. Depending on the severity of the injury, recovery time varies and comas can be temporary or permanent. Patients in a coma might have brain stem responses, spontaneous breathing and/or non-purposeful motor responses.
Comatose patients do not seem to hear or respond. Speaking may not affect their clinical outcome; time spent with them takes time away from other, more "viable" patients. Comatose patients may, however, hear; many have normal brain-stem auditory evoked responses and normal physiologic responses to auditory stimuli.
Someone in a coma needs intensive care in hospital. They may need help with breathing. They will be fed through a tube and they will receive blood and fluids through a drip inserted into their vein.
Coma is a state of consciousness that is similar to deep sleep, except no amount of external stimuli (such as sounds or sensations) can prompt the brain to become awake and alert. A person in a coma can't even respond to pain.
Spontaneous movements may occur, and the eyes may open in response to external stimuli. Individuals may even occasionally grimace, cry, or laugh.
Their brains often show no signs of the normal sleep-wakefulness cycle, which means they are unlikely to be dreaming. Yet many people who have recovered from comas report dreams into which something of the outside world penetrated. Others recall nightmares that seemed to go on and on.
If you're in a coma, you're unconscious, but you have some reflex response. For example, you might blink or turn your head when someone shines a bright light in your eyes. In brain death, you don't have reflex responses. Likewise, comas aren't always permanent.
The longest documented case of someone waking up from a coma is Munira Abdulla, a woman from the UAE who awoke in 2019 after being in a vegetative state for 27 years, following a 1991 car crash, though she was in a minimally conscious state for some of that time, a remarkable recovery after long-term brain injury. Other cases include Terry Wallis, who woke in 2003 after 19 years, and Jan Grzebski, who woke after four years, demonstrating rare but possible long-term awakenings.
They cannot speak and their eyes are closed. They look as if they are asleep. However, the brain of a coma patient may continue to work. It might “hear” the sounds in the environment, like the footsteps of someone approaching or the voice of a person speaking.
Comas can last from days to weeks while some severe cases have lasted several years. Recovery depends, to a considerable extent, on the original cause of the coma and on the severity of any brain damage.
Speak soothing words
You may make involuntary motor responses (generalized responses) or display spontaneous breathing. A coma requires around-the-clock medical care since you are unable to respond to your body's needs. Sometimes important body functions such as breathing and blood circulation are impacted during a coma.
Coma symptoms
Patients may not have control of their bowel or bladder. Catheters or diapers will be used until bowel and bladder control returns.
To prevent aspiration, coma patients today's world are often fed via a feeding tube or IV. Some patients in a coma can still open their eyes, swallow, and respond to stimuli, making the idea that Bran was fed water and honey not ENTIRELY out of the question. …
For a coma to occur, there must be an insult to the brain — such as an injury, inflammation or infection. Before a person can wake up, their brain needs to recover by either regrowing damaged neurons or expanding on other brain networks to take over the job of the injured brain region.
The patient will start to have localized responses and follow simple commands. Some examples of early responses to watch for are: Localized response: These are appropriate movements by the patient in response to sound, touch, or sight.
Music stimulation is considered to be a valuable form of intervention for people with severe brain injuries and prolonged disorders of consciousness (i.e., unresponsive wakefulness/vegetative state or minimally conscious state).
Brain damage can range from mild to severe. Thus, it is difficult for us to predict recovery time as well as the severity of the effects. It usually takes several months for people to come out of a coma. During this time, they regain consciousness and respond to what is happening.