Post-traumatic amnesiaPost-traumatic amnesia (PTA) is a state of confusion that occurs immediately following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in which the injured person is disoriented and unable to remember events that occur after the injury.https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Post-traumatic_amnesia
It often shows up suddenly, within hours or days. Some features of delirium include having trouble focusing (called inattention), sudden changes in behavior, and confusion. For most people, delirium doesn't last long – usually only a few days.
Most individuals that recover from coma exhibit signs of preserved brain function, such as the presence of neurological reflexes. Some neurological reflexes that a doctor may look for in coma patients include: Pupillary reactivity. The pupils should shrink in response to a light being shone in the eyes.
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.
Typically, a coma does not last more than a few days or couple of weeks. In some rare cases, a person might stay in a coma for several weeks, months or even years. Depending on what caused the person to go into a coma, some patients are able to return to their normal lives after leaving the hospital.
Comas are caused by damage to the brain, especially if there's bilateral damage to the cerebral cortex (which means damage on both sides), or damage to the reticular activating system. The reticular activating system controls arousal and awareness of the cerebral cortex.
People in a coma will not age like conscious people living life. Muscles weaken & emaciate. The damaged part of the brain might deteriorate as a result of inflammation to the area.
Depth of coma
Those who show no motor response have a 3% chance of making a good recovery whereas those who show flexion have a better than 15% chance.
A coma is similar to a dream-like state because the individual is alive but not conscious. A coma occurs when there is little-to-no brain activity. The patient is unable to respond to touch, sound, and other stimuli. It is also rare for someone in a coma to cough, sneeze, or communicate in any way.
Complications. Although many people gradually recover from a coma, others enter a persistent vegetative state or die. Some people who recover from a coma end up with major or minor disabilities. During a coma, bedsores, urinary tract infections, blood clots in the legs and other problems may develop.
Stage 3: Agitation and Confusion
At this stage, a patient may respond more consistently. They may also be confused about where they are and what has happened and have memory difficulties. The patient may present behavioral issues, such as outbursts, swearing, biting, or physical aggression.
Severe brain injury is usually defined as being a condition where the patient has been in an unconscious state for 6 hours or more, or a post-traumatic amnesia of 24 hours or more.
Some people feel they can remember events that happened around them while they were in a coma, while others don't. Some people have reported feeling enormous reassurance from the presence of a loved one when coming out of a coma.
Annie Shapiro (1913–2003) was a Canadian apron shop owner who was in a coma for 29 years because of a massive stroke and suddenly awakened in 1992. Apart from the patients in the true story Awakenings, Shapiro was the longest a person has been in a coma like state and woken up.
Someone who is in a coma is unconscious and has minimal brain activity. They're alive but can't be woken up and show no signs of awareness. The person's eyes will be closed and they'll appear to be unresponsive to their environment.
Medically induced coma, performed on critically ill patients, has been used for a quarter of a century or more to put the brain in a state of temporary hibernation to allow time for the brain to recuperate. One of the greatest hazards associated with brain injury is intracranial hypertension.
Usually, coma patients have their eyes closed and cannot see what happens around them. But their ears keep receiving sounds from the environment. In some cases, the brains of coma patients can process sounds, for example the voice of someone speaking to them [2].
Time is the best general predictor of a chance of recovery. For example, after four months of coma caused by brain damage, the chance of partial recovery is less than 15%, and the chance of full recovery is very low.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) suggests that people in a coma do not react to their surrounding environment due to the suppression of their thinking abilities. However, automatic functions, such as breathing and circulation, usually continue to function.
Brain death: Irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem. A person who is brain dead is dead, with no chance of revival. Coma: A state of profound unresponsiveness as a result of severe illness or brain injury.
'Remembering' What Was Never There
More commonly, people remember things that never happened. It's hard to characterize the different mental experiences that people have while in a coma. Some of them may be dreams, others are hallucinations.
A coma rarely lasts more than 2 to 4 weeks. Some patients may regain a degree of awareness after persistent vegetative state. Others may remain in that state for years or even decades. The most common cause of death for someone in a persistent vegetative state is infection, such as pneumonia.
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.
A comatose patient may open his eyes, move and even cry while still remaining unconscious. His brain-stem reflexes are attached to a nonfunctioning cortex. Reflex without reflection. Many professionals speak of this condition as a ''persistent vegetative state.