Coma is a state of prolonged unconsciousness that can be caused by a variety of problems — traumatic head injury, stroke, brain tumor, drug or alcohol intoxication, or even an underlying illness, such as diabetes or an infection. Coma is a medical emergency. Swift action is needed to preserve life and brain function.

Signs of coming out of a coma include being able to keep their eyes open for longer and longer periods of time and being awakened from “sleep” easier—at first by pain (pinch), then by touch (like gently shaking of their shoulder), and finally by sound (calling their name).

Fact facts on coma During a coma, a person does not react to external stimuli and they will not show normal reflex responses. Comatose patients do not have sleep-wake cycles.

Patients can gradually come out of the coma, some progress to a vegetative state (aka unresponsive wakefulness syndrome) and others die. Some patients who have entered a vegetative state go on to regain a degree of awareness (see Minimally Conscious State).

Yes, coma patients have bowel movements. Because people in a coma can’t express themselves, doctors must rely on physical clues and information provided by families and friends. First, doctors ensure that the patient isn’t in immediate danger of dying.

It can be seen that the likelihood of a good recovery in all patients is only 10%. It is less than 5% in those who have suffered subarachnoid haemorrhage or stroke, about 10% in those with hypoxic–ischaemic injury, but as high as 25% in those metabolic or infective causes of coma.

In more severe cases a coma may last for over five weeks, while some have lasted as long as several years. After this time, some patients gradually come out of the coma, some progress to a vegetative state, and others die.

Patients in a coma appear unconscious. They do not respond to touch, sound or pain, and cannot be awakened. Their brains often show no signs of the normal sleep-wakefulness cycle, which means they are unlikely to be dreaming.

Usually, comas are more like twilight states – hazy, dreamlike things where you don’t have fully formed thoughts or experiences, but you still feel pain and form memories that your brain invents to try to make sense of what’s happening to you.

People in a coma are completely unresponsive. They do not move, do not react to light or sound and cannot feel pain.

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.

Elaine Esposito

Usually, a coma does not last more than a few weeks. Sometimes, however, a person stays in a coma for a long time — even years — and will be able to do very little except breathe on his or her own. Most people do come out of comas.

Comas are caused by damage to the brain, specifically the diffused bilateral cerebral hemisphere cortexor the reticular activating system. This area of the brain controls arousal and awareness.

Coma is a period of prolonged unconsciousness, a coma can be caused by injury or physical illness — and in rare cases induced by doctors as a treatment option. Nqinana’s story is proof that sometimes hope and patience prevail, as miraculous awakenings have been reported for patients in comas as long as 19 years.

So no, waking up from a coma is nothing like waking up from a good sleep. Because the thoughts and dreams that go through your mind when you’re in a coma feel so abso-freaking-lutely REAL, you would swear they are actual memories. Waking up from a coma is scary.

How to wake someone up

1. Music. A 2020 study that compared a standard alarm clock tone to musical sounds found that people preferred to be roused from their sleep by music.
2. Wake-up lights.
3. Natural light.
4. Phone.
5. Mental stimulation.
6. The right scent.
7. Distant alarm.
8. Stick to a schedule.

Dubbed the “sleeping beauty,” Esposito stayed in a coma for 37 years and 111 days before succumbing in 1978 — the longest-ever coma, according to Guinness World Records.

Report: Emirati woman Munira Abdulla spends nearly 30 years in a coma before regaining consciousness in 2018. The woman went into a coma after the car in which she was riding collided with a bus in the United Arab Emirates in 1991, when she was 32 years old.

A coma is a prolonged state of unconsciousness. During a coma, a person is unresponsive to their environment. The person is alive and looks like they are sleeping. However, unlike in a deep sleep, the person cannot be awakened by any stimulation, including pain.