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Coma and cases of prolonged stay in it. Reference. Stories of people who slept for many years in a coma The longest coma after which a person woke up

On September 3, doctors at the Israeli Sheba Medical Center recalled the existence of a man whom even many journalists and international relations experts consider to be long dead.

Alive no matter what

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon successfully underwent elective surgery to replace the artificial feeding tube. Doctors noted that there were no changes in Sharon's condition.

There have been no serious changes in the state of the former head of government for seven and a half years. In December 2005, one of the most active Middle Eastern politicians suffered a minor stroke, and in early January 2006, a massive stroke. The consequence of this was a deep coma, in which Sharon remains to this day.

After one hundred days of being in a coma, Ariel Sharon, in accordance with the laws of Israel, was declared incompetent, having lost the post of prime minister. From that moment on, there were fewer and fewer reports about Sharon in the media, as well as hopes that the politician would someday return to normal life.

However, the body of the former military man, whose ancestors come from the Russian Empire, turned out to be quite strong. Seven and a half years later, Sharon, who turned 85 in February 2013, is still on the thin line between life and death. In 2011, one of the doctors treating Sharon stated that his patient is able to feel pinches and also opens his eyes when spoken to. However, no further progress was noted in the state of the ex-premier.

To the question "How long can this go on?" doctors can not give an exact answer. History knows examples when a person in a state of coma spent not even years, but whole decades.

Eternity on the threshold of eternity

In December 1969, the 16-year-old American Edward O'Bar, an exemplary student who dreamed of becoming a pediatrician, fell ill with pneumonia. Her condition was complicated by diabetes, which the girl suffered from. In January 1970, Eduarda fell into a diabetic coma. The last thing she managed to ask her mother was never to leave her.

The parents did not leave their daughter. Despite the fact that the doctors' prognosis was negative, they took care of her, carrying out the necessary medical procedures. The treatment of the girl was very expensive, her father, Joe, had to work three jobs to save the life of her child. Such loads were not in vain - Joe O'Bara suffered a heart attack, and died in 1975. Edward's mother Catherine, never abandoned her daughter, continuing to care for her until her death in 2008. By that time, the debts of the O'Bar family had exceeded 200 thousand dollars.

The fate of Eduarda and her family was known all over the world. Celebrities have visited Pope wrote letters of comfort to her mother.

In recent years, her sister took care of Eduard Colin.

Edward O'Bar passed away on January 21, 2012. Of the 59 years of her life, she spent 42 years in a coma - more than anyone in history.

Grew up but didn't wake up

Before Eduarda, she was considered a record holder Chicago resident Elaine Esposito, whose story is no less sad than the story of her sister in misfortune. In 1941, daughters Louis and Lucy Esposito Elaine is six years old. She grew up as an ordinary child until the girl had an attack of appendicitis. While Elaine was preparing for the operation, the appendix ruptured, that is, peritonitis began.

The operation under general anesthesia was successful, but suddenly the girl's temperature rose sharply to 42 degrees, convulsions began. The doctors were preparing their parents for the worst, fearing that Elaine would not survive the coming night.

The girl, however, survived, but fell into a coma. After nine months of treatment in the hospital, during which Elaine never returned to normal life, her mother took her daughter home. Then there were years of selfless struggle of relatives for the return of Elaine from a coma. The girl grew up, matured, still remaining between life and death. Without leaving the coma, she contracted pneumonia and measles. At times it seemed that Elaine was on the verge of being released from her comatose captivity, her eyes even opened. Alas, the miracle did not happen - on November 25, 1978, 43-year-old Elaine Esposito died after spending 37 years and 111 days in a coma.

Grandfather returned to grandchildren

However, sometimes miracles do happen. In 1995, a 33-year-old American fireman Don Herbert was working on extinguishing the building, and the roof collapsed on it. The oxygen in the breathing apparatus ended, and the man spent 12 minutes without air, falling into a coma. He came back to life 10 years later. This happened after the doctors changed the medicines used to treat the patient. Alas, poor health made Herbert's new life short - in 2006 he died of pneumonia.

In July 1984, 19-year-old American Terry Wallis got into a car accident, as a result of which he fell into a coma. After 17 years, in 2001, Terry began to communicate with staff and relatives using signs, and in 2003, 19 years after falling into a coma, he spoke for the first time. By 2006, Wallis had learned to speak clearly and count to 25.

Polish life railway worker Jan Grzebski was common until 1988, when he was seriously injured in an accident. Doctors gave pessimistic forecasts - if a 46-year-old man gets out, then he will have no more than three years to live. Confirming the doctors' worst fears, Yang fell into a coma. The man's wife did not leave him, caring for and helping to perform medical procedures. So 19 years have passed. There was no progress in the state of the railway worker, and, finally, even the faithful wife gave in, who considered that she could devote the rest of her days to herself. It was at this moment that Jan Grzebik "emerged" from a coma. The 65-year-old man learned that in the intervening time his four children got married and got married, and he himself is now the grandfather of as many as 11 grandchildren.

Coma, comatose state (from the Greek. koma - deep sleep, drowsiness) - a life-threatening condition characterized by loss of consciousness, a sharp weakening or lack of response to external stimuli, the extinction of reflexes until they disappear completely, a violation of the depth and frequency of breathing, a change in vascular tone, increased or slowed heart rate, violation of temperature regulation.

Coma develops as a result of deep inhibition in the cerebral cortex with its spread to the subcortex and underlying parts of the central nervous system due to acute circulatory disorders in the brain, head injuries, inflammation (with encephalitis, meningitis, malaria), as well as as a result of poisoning (with barbiturates, carbon monoxide, etc.), with diabetes mellitus, uremia, hepatitis. In this case, there are violations of the acid-base balance in the nervous tissue, oxygen starvation, ion exchange disorders and energy starvation of nerve cells.

Coma is preceded by a pre-coma, during which the development of these symptoms occurs.

The coma lasts from several hours to several days, less often - more; in this it differs from fainting, which does not last long (from 1 to 15 minutes) and, as a rule, is caused by sudden anemia of the brain.

It is often difficult to identify the cause of a coma. The rate at which the disease progresses is important. The sudden development of coma is characteristic of vascular disorders (cerebral stroke). Relatively slowly, a coma develops with brain damage of an infectious nature. Symptoms of a coma with endogenous intoxications increase much more slowly - diabetic, hepatic, renal coma.

The exit from a coma under the influence of treatment is characterized by a gradual restoration of the functions of the central nervous system, usually in the reverse order of their oppression. First, corneal (corneal) reflexes appear, then pupillary reflexes, the degree of vegetative disorders decreases. Restoration of consciousness goes through the stages of stupor, confused consciousness, delirium, hallucinations are sometimes noted. Often, during the period of coming out of a coma, there is a sharp motor restlessness with chaotic discoordinated movements against the background of a stunned state; convulsive seizures are possible, followed by a twilight state.

Cases of coming out of a coma after a long stay.

AT June 2003 39-year-old US resident Terry Wallis came to his senses after being in a coma for 19 years. Terry Wallis fell into a coma after a car accident in July 1984 when he was 19 years old. All these years, Terry Wallis was under the supervision of doctors from the Stone County Rehab Center. In 2001, he began to communicate with relatives and hospital staff using elementary signs, and on June 13, 2003, he spoke for the first time. Terry Wallis is paralyzed and uses a wheelchair.

In 2006, Terry Wallis still needed help eating, but his speech continued to improve and he could consistently count to 25.

AT June 2003 Chinese woman Jin Meihua woke up from a coma in which she had been for the past four and a half years. She suffered a severe brain injury after falling off her bike. Due to the severity of the injuries, the doctors did not have high hopes for Jean's cure. All these years, her husband was next to Jin Meihua, caring for and caring for his wife.

January 21, 2004 The media reported that a patient, who had been in a coma for a year and a half, regained consciousness in the As-Salam International Hospital in Cairo. A 25-year-old Syrian was in a car accident in Lebanon in 2002. He fell into a coma from severe head injuries, his heart stopped several times, the patient was connected to an artificial respiration unit. He was first treated at an American hospital in Beirut, and then he was transferred to Cairo, where he underwent a series of neurosurgical operations. Having regained consciousness, the Syrian was able to move his arms and stand, understand speech and began to try to speak himself. This is a very rare case in medical practice, when a patient with such severe injuries survived a long coma and came to his senses.

AT April 2005 American firefighter 43 year old Don Herbert(Don Herbert) came out of a 10-year coma. Herbert fell into a coma in 1995. While extinguishing the fire, the roof of the burning building collapsed on it. After the oxygen in the breathing apparatus ran out, Herbert spent 12 minutes under the rubble without air, as a result of which a coma ensued. In February 2006, Don Herbert died of pneumonia.

June 2, 2007 the media reported that a resident of Poland is a 65-year-old railway worker Jan Grzebski(Jan Grzebski) has woken up after being in a coma for 19 years. In 1988, Grzebski was seriously injured in a railway accident. According to doctors, he had no more than three years to live. In the same year, the 46-year-old Pole fell into a coma. For 19 years, Grzebski's wife was at her husband's bedside every hour, changing the position of his body every hour to avoid muscle atrophy and the spread of infections. Having regained consciousness, the Pole learned that now all of his four children were married and married, and that he now has 11 granddaughters and grandchildren.

The medical phenomenon of coma, unfortunately, is not fully understood by specialists. The reason why a person falls into this state may be various deviations in the body. In total, there are about 30 types of coma: alcoholic, traumatic, diabetic, etc. It is not so important which form deprived a person of the opportunity to live a full life, it is much more important how it ended. The longest coma after which a person woke up is a miracle that doctors cannot explain.

Sarah Scantlin

Young 18-year-old college student Sara Scatlin spent 20 long years in a coma. The reason for this state of the girl from the US state of Kansas was the driver driving while intoxicated. After the accident, Sarah fell into a coma, and lived only thanks to the devices that support the vital activity of the body.

The traumatic brain injury was so serious that the girl did not show any signs of life for the first month, and her body functioned with the help of an artificial respiration apparatus. A month later, the only thing Sarah could do was breathe and swallow food on her own. She was in this position for 16 years. After years of being in a coma, a specialist began to work with her, trying to bring the girl back to real life. And yet a miracle happened. After a year of such classes, Sarah began to show the first independent reflexes. She could only communicate with those around her with her eye movements.

In 2005, after a twenty-year stay in a coma, the girl woke up and gradually began to remember her loved ones. She could only move around with the help of a wheelchair. Not a single doctor could explain such an “awakening”, according to them, this case is more of a happy exception to the rule than a pattern. The only thing that confused Sarah's relatives was that she still considered herself 18 years old. Gradually, speech and some motor reflexes returned to her.

Gary Dockery

The longest coma with awakening was recorded in Tennessee. Gary Dockery was 33 years old when he was shot in the head while trying with a partner to detain a bandit. The injury resulting from the wound was so severe that doctors had to remove about 20% of the brain matter. After such manipulations, the former policeman spent seven years in an unconscious state.

And when the hope left his relatives, he suddenly came to his senses and even remembered the members of his family, despite the fact that his sons became very large. He did not remember anything about the day when he was injured and his work. Unfortunately, Gary left this world a year after coming out of a coma. The cause was a thrombus in the lungs.

Martin Pistorius

The story of this young man, who had to stay unconscious for 12 years, is very unusual. As a rule, people in a coma do not feel anything, Martin, on the contrary, understood everything, simply could not react to what was happening, being, as if in captivity. The reason for this condition of the boy was a banal sore throat, which gave a complication to his legs, and later his vision began to disappear.

Doctors made an assumption on cryptococcal meningitis, but they could not make an accurate diagnosis. Since Martin could no longer be helped in the hospital, he was discharged home. Doctors assumed that the boy, who was then only 8 years old, would not live long.

But fate decreed otherwise. Thanks to the love and care of his parents, and above all, his father, after 12 years the young man came to his senses. During this time, his father took the boy to a special rehabilitation center every day, still hoping that a miracle would happen. As Martin himself later recalled, he was very annoyed by the cartoons that were shown to children in this institution, but he could not do anything and say about it.

After coming out of a coma, Martin Pistorius learned to write and read, went to college, where he received the profession of a programmer, and later a job in one of the state companies. Today, Martin has a good caring wife and, despite the fact that he moves in a wheelchair, he lives a full life. The case of this South African teenager, unfortunately, is one of the few happy examples of coming out of a coma.

Yang Lin

In 1996, a Beijing resident fell into a coma as a result of gas poisoning. At that time he was 51 years old, and no one hoped that after 13 years of unconscious existence, a man would be able to wake up. All these years, he had a devoted wife by his side, thanks to whose efforts, perhaps, this miracle happened.

It was her name that Yang Liying, who suddenly came to his senses, said. After many years of coma, he has to learn to eat and talk in a new way, as well as to get acquainted with the world, which has changed a lot during his "absence".

Terry Wallace

This man from the American town of Cornell spent about 17 years in a coma. In 1984, at the age of 19, he was in a car accident and only miraculously survived. His friend, who was in the car with him at the time of the tragedy, died immediately, and Terry fell into a coma. None of the doctors gave comforting forecasts about his condition.

In 2001, he began to show the first signs of reasonable behavior and tried to communicate with the clinic staff with gestures and facial expressions. Two years later, Terry spoke, and, most surprisingly, he learned to walk again in almost three days. The hardest thing for him was to remember his family (his daughter at that time was already 20 years old) and the circumstances that happened to him almost 2 decades ago.

Edward O'Bar

The record holder for the duration of an unconscious existence is Edward O'Bar, whom journalists dubbed "Sleeping Snow White". How long did the longest coma last, which, unfortunately, did not end as happily as the previous examples? Almost half a century - this woman spent 42 years in a coma and passed away in 2012. She fell into this state after a diabetic coma, and despite the fact that her eyes were open, she did not feel anything and did not understand what was happening around.

For many years, her mother, Kay, was by her side, who selflessly cared for her daughter for 35 years. She arranged birthday parties for her, washed and fed her, and also talked to her. In 2008, when her mother passed away, all the responsibilities for caring for the sick Eduarda were taken over by her sister, Colin. She says that she was able to learn a lot from her sister, even though it was impossible to communicate with her. After 4 years, Eduarda left after her mother.

Such examples of love and loyalty to their loved ones should make many people appreciate the time when our loved ones are healthy, and even in the most hopeless cases not to despair and not betray them.

Doctors call a coma such a state of the patient, in which the main functions of the body continue to be supported by its own forces, but what we call consciousness is absent. Some relatives of comatose patients believe that in a coma a person continues to hear his own and perceive them at some subconscious level. However, from a medical point of view, perception as such in a coma is impossible - the brain is simply not able to process incoming information, much less respond to it.

Approximately in such a state, according to doctors, was the Belgian Rom Uben, and no less - as much as 23 years! This is close to the record time spent in a coma, and there is practically no hope that Rom will wake up. Imagine the surprise of both the doctors and Uben's relatives when it turned out that all this time the man was conscious and simply paralyzed!

Who Uben was diagnosed with in 1983: then a 20-year-old boy got into a severe car accident, and the health workers who took him decided that he would never regain consciousness. Uben was connected to all the necessary equipment that supported his vital functions, and left to the will of fate: there is no cure for a coma.

And in 2006, a new apparatus for studying brain activity showed that Uben's consciousness worked at almost 100%. It turned out that all this time the man was completely paralyzed, but at the same time he perfectly heard, saw and realized everything that was happening around.

“I screamed, but no one heard me,” recalls Rom Uben, who learned to communicate with the outside world through a special keyboard, recalls his experience.

According to Uben, he remembers very well how he came to his senses after the accident and realized that he was in the hospital; but then he realized with horror that he could neither move nor even blink - the patient had no way to signal to the doctors that he was conscious, so the doctors decided that he was in a coma.

For a long time, Uben tried to somehow show others that he was aware of everything that was happening, but numerous attempts were unsuccessful. The man felt completely helpless and soon lost all hope: all he had to do was dream.

Uben's savior was Dr. Stephen Loray from the University of the Belgian city of Liege, to whom Roma's mother turned. The woman was sure that her son could hear and understand her all this time, so she asked Lorey (one of the most famous neurologists in Belgium) to examine Roma. After the first examination, the doctor doubted the initial diagnosis and suggested checking the patient's brain activity using special equipment.

“I will never forget the day they found me awake. It was like a second birth, - BBC quotes Uben.

According to Dr. Lorey, this turn of events was not at all a surprise for him: almost 40% of comatose patients are actually fully or partially conscious, the doctor claims.

For reference. How is who determined?

To determine the state of a coma, physicians around the world use the so-called Glasgow Coma Scale. According to this method, the doctor must evaluate (set points) four indicators - the patient's motor reaction, his speech skills and the eye opening reaction. Sometimes, the state of the pupils is used as an additional criterion, which can reflect how much the functions of the human brain stem have been preserved.

There are other, close to coma states of oppression of consciousness - for example, vegetative. With this diagnosis, the patient retains motor reflexes and even a cycle of sleep and wakefulness, but consciousness as such is absent.

But with the so-called locked-in syndrome (literal translation from English - “locked”), on the contrary, a person is completely “in himself”, but he cannot move, talk, or even swallow. Typically, the only remaining function is eye movement.