Are you dead if you are in a vegetative state?

Are you dead if you are in a vegetative state?

The difference between brain death and a vegetative state, which can happen after extensive brain damage, is that it’s possible to recover from a vegetative state, but brain death is permanent. Someone in a vegetative state still has a functioning brain stem, which means: some form of consciousness may exist.

Can vegetative state be cured?

There’s no real treatment. Rather, the focus is supportive care so the brain can heal. The person will be carefully monitored for changes or signs of improvement.

What comes after a vegetative state?

A person may enter a minimally conscious state after being in a coma or vegetative state. In some cases a minimally conscious state is a stage on the route to recovery, but in others it’s permanent. As with vegetative state, a continuing minimally conscious state means it’s lasted longer than 4 weeks.

Can someone in a vegetative state breathe on their own?

Patients in a vegetative state are awake, breathe on their own, and seem to go in and out of sleep. But they do not respond to what is happening around them and exhibit no signs of conscious awareness.

Has anyone woke up from a vegetative state?

A woman has regained full consciousness after 28 years in a vegetative state. Munira Abdulla suffered a severe brain injury a car crash in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 1991 – when she was 32. For years there were no signs she would ever wake up.

Is vegetative state permanent?

This state—the permanent vegetative state—is a condition of wakeful unawareness, a form of permanent unconsciousness. Originally described and named by Fred Plum and Brian Jennet in 1972, this neurological syndrome is now well known to most doctors who treat neurological disorders.

Is vegetative state worse than coma?

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’.

Can someone in a vegetative state see you?

Patients in a vegetative state do not respond to what is happening around them and exhibit no signs of conscious awareness. Now research has shown that the brains of patients in a vegetative state emotionally react to photographs of people they know personally as though they recognize them.

What it feels like to be in a vegetative state?

Unlike a coma, where the patient is completely immobile and unconscious, people in a vegetative state will sleep, wake, and open their eyes — without showing any sign of awareness or consciousness. They don’t speak, move on their own, or respond to questions.