Patients in vegetative state display all these precursor emotions in various combinations. So, they have no clear- cut one-way development of emotions, such as the one observed in neonates. Anyhow, they display the five basic emotions more frequently than the six fleeting ones.
They're also able to regulate their heartbeat and breathing without assistance. However, a person in a vegetative state doesn't show any meaningful responses, such as following an object with their eyes or responding to voices. They also show no signs of experiencing emotions nor of cognitive function.
Midbrain or pontine reflexes may or may not be present. Patients have no awareness of self and interact with the environment only via reflexes. Seizure activity may be present but not be clinically evident. Traditionally, a vegetative state that lasts > 1 month is considered to be a persistent vegetative state.
Patients in a vegetative state show no evidence of awareness of self or environment and cannot interact with other people. Purposeful responses to external stimuli are absent, as are language comprehension and expression.
Their eyes may also randomly wander or track moving objects, and their breathing and heart rate are able to keep their body going without the assistance of machines. Other actions such as swallowing, smiling, and tearing up as well as groaning, grunting, or screaming are all common in vegetative states too.
Patients in the vegetative state are said to be unaware and to lack the cortical capacity to feel pain (Multi-Society Task Force on PVS, 1994).
IT IS a nightmare situation. A person diagnosed as being in a vegetative state has an operation without anaesthetic because they cannot feel pain.
People in a vegetative state go to sleep and awaken regularly, and their eyes open and move, but typically, they have lost all capacity for thought and conscious behavior.
And when is the right time to unplug the outlet? If doctors believe there is little or no chance of recovery, family and loved ones can apply for a court order to remove the patient from life support (which is not necessary if the patient or someone with power of attorney has signed a DNR order).
In a vegetative state the person is still unconscious. They have no awareness of themselves or their environment. The main difference between 'coma' and the 'vegetative state' is that at some point the person's eyes will be open and there will be times when they seem to be 'awake'.
A vegetative state is a disorder of consciousness or an altered consciousness. It is caused by severe brain damage. Someone in a persistent vegetative state may look like they're awake, but they don't have an awareness of their surroundings.
Patients in a vegetative state are awake but unaware. They have sleep/wake cycles with eyes open for prolonged periods but show no evidence of consciousness on physical examination.
It is also sometimes referred to as a “low awareness state”. A person who is vegetative might smile spontaneously but a person who is minimally conscious might smile in response to her daughter entering the room.
Some others have recovered, including the first vegetative patient he ever put into a brain scanner, in 1996. Kate Bainbridge, a young British woman, had acquired a viral infection that plunged her into a coma; she eventually emerged in a vegetative state.
If the patient squeezes their hand you know that they are aware. Because you know they can hear and understand what you say, and generate a response. But if the patient doesn't squeeze your hand, you have two possibilities: One is that they are not aware, and the other is that they just can't respond.
Thus some patients can regain awareness after more than four months in a vegetative state, and, although few reach full independence, most can achieve an improved quality of life within the limitations of their disabilities. The recovery period is prolonged and may continue for several years.
Such persons may be able to communicate with, for example, eye blinking. Life expectancy in the persistent VS. Early research8 suggested that life expectancy in this condition was 2-5 years, with survival for 10 years being uncommon.
Many patients recover consciousness and even regain independence after a month in a vegetative state after head injury, but few do so after non-traumatic insult. The longer the state persists the less likely the recovery, and eventually permanence can be declared.
In some cases, it may be that the family believe that the patient would have wanted ongoing treatment regardless of their level of consciousness or prognosis. Alternatively, some family members may be hoping for a “miracle” recovery or are simply not yet ready to let go of a loved one.
If an individual is diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state, recovery is unlikely but not impossible. If due to a traumatic cause, recovery of consciousness is unlikely after 12 months in both adults and children.
A vegetative state is similar to a coma but isn't the same. People in a vegetative state have recovered enough that they aren't in a coma, but their brain's abilities and activity are still very limited. The potential for recovery from a vegetative state varies widely.
But without brain function, the body eventually shuts down, unless there is medical intervention. Someone on a ventilator may appear to be breathing, but cannot breathe on their own. While the heart usually stops within 72 hours, it could continue beating for “a week or so,” Varelas said.
By definition, patients with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) do not experience pain, but it is still not completely understood how far their brain can process noxious stimuli.
Unresponsive wakefulness syndrome -- which doctors previously referred to as a persistent vegetative state or a vegetative state -- is best described as a state in which a patient may have certain characteristics of consciousness, such as eye blinking and eye movement, but who has no apparent reaction to the external ...