A. Loved ones might find it hard to comprehend that someone is dead when he still feels warm to the touch and his chest continues to rise and fall as a result of mechanical support, Tawil says. “What they hear is ‘kind of dead,’ ‘maybe dead,’ ‘sort of dead,’ but they don’t hear ‘dead,’” Caplan says.
Q. What is brain dead vs coma?
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.
Table of Contents
- Q. What is brain dead vs coma?
- Q. Do people in a coma dream?
- Q. What is the longest time a brain-dead person has been on life support?
- Q. How long can you live when you are brain-dead?
- Q. How long can a person live after life support is removed?
- Q. Who decides to take someone off life support?
- Q. Can doctors turn off life support without family consent?
- Q. What is the procedure when a patient is determined to be brain dead?
- Q. Do brain dead patients have reflexes?
- Q. What are the signs of no brain activity?
- Q. Can someone with no brain activity come back?
- Q. How do they check for brain activity?
- Q. Can you pull the plug on someone who is not brain dead?
- Q. Do brain dead patients yawn?
- Q. What is the difference between whole brain death and persistent vegetative state?
- Q. What is it like to be in a vegetative state?
- Q. Can a person with severe brain damage breathe on their own?
Q. Do people in a coma dream?
Patients in a coma appear unconscious. 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.
Q. What is the longest time a brain-dead person has been on life support?
Several years ago, the autopsy report of a totally brain-dead patient named TK who was kept on life support for nearly twenty years was published in the Journal of Child Neurology. He remains the individual kept on life support the longest after suffering total brain failure.
Q. How long can you live when you are brain-dead?
Today, with ventilators, blood-pressure augmentation and hormones, the body of a brain-dead person could, in theory, be kept functioning for a long time, perhaps indefinitely, Greene-Chandos said.
Q. How long can a person live after life support is removed?
Stopping Life Support Choosing to remove life support usually means that the person will die within hours or days. The timing depends on what treatment is stopped. People tend to stop breathing and die soon after a ventilator shuts off, though some do start breathing again on their own.
Q. Who decides to take someone off life support?
Typically, the person the patient designated as the medical power of attorney gets to decide whether life support should remain active or not. In the event that the patient has not designated medical power of attorney to anyone, the patient’s closest relative or friend receives the responsibility.
Q. Can doctors turn off life support without family consent?
The short answer is maybe. A hospital may or may not require permission of one or more family members or even a court to terminate life support. It is almost impossible to find an elder law issue that is more fact sensitive than termination of life…
Q. What is the procedure when a patient is determined to be brain dead?
Generally, the apnea test is the final step in the determination of brain death, and is performed after establishing the irreversibility and unresponsiveness of coma, and the absence of brainstem reflexes.
Q. Do brain dead patients have reflexes?
A variety of reflex movements have been reported in patients with brain death, such as plantar responses, muscle stretch reflexes, abdominal reflexes, and finger jerks (2). Because the aforementioned reflexes are spinal reflexes, the existence of such reflex movements does not preclude the diagnosis of brain death.
Q. What are the signs of no brain activity?
Some of the signs of brain death include:
- The pupils don’t respond to light.
- The person shows no reaction to pain.
- The eyes don’t blink when the eye surface is touched (corneal reflex).
- The eyes don’t move when the head is moved (oculocephalic reflex).
Q. Can someone with no brain activity come back?
The brain will never recover when it dies. Since the patient has already been declared dead, removing the machine (which is artificially pumping air into the lungs) cannot cause further harm or death.
Q. How do they check for brain activity?
An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test that detects electrical activity in your brain using small, metal discs (electrodes) attached to your scalp. Your brain cells communicate via electrical impulses and are active all the time, even when you’re asleep. This activity shows up as wavy lines on an EEG recording.
Q. Can you pull the plug on someone who is not brain dead?
“Pulling the plug” would render the patient unable to breathe, and the heart would stop beating within minutes, he said. But if a patient is not brain dead and instead has suffered a catastrophic neurological brain injury, DiGeorgia said, he or she could breathe spontaneously for one or two days before dying.
Q. Do brain dead patients yawn?
Patients with intact brain stem function may be able to open the eyes, yawn and sleep, but lack any higher cortical neurologic functions.
Q. What is the difference between whole brain death and persistent vegetative state?
The basic difference between “whole brain death” and “persistent vegetative state” is that in the former the entire brain must be permanently nonfunctioning while in the latter only the cerebral cortex or capacity for consciousness is gone and some brain stem function remains.
Q. What is it like to be in a vegetative state?
Using Neuroscience to Talk to People 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.
Q. Can a person with severe brain damage breathe on their own?
They may be able to breathe on their own, although some people require a machine to help them breathe. Over time, the person may start to gradually regain consciousness and become more aware.