Stages of Coma
Throughout the years, many patients have had severe brain injuries that led them to lose precious time of their lives due to unconsciousness. Some of these patients are lucky enough to recover quickly within a few days after the accident while others have a slower recovery that extend through different stages. These stages are among the misunderstood conditions that are thought to be coma; however, coma is only the first stage. Before patients regain their full consciousness, they progress through three different stages of unconsciousness which are coma, vegetative state, and minimally conscious state. The first stage of unconsciousness after severe brain injuries is coma. This stage is a pathological condition that mainly results from injuries in the brainstem, "the base of the brain that is connected to the spinal cord."(1). The brainstem takes control of the body involuntary functions such as breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure. More importantly, it functions as an "on/off" switch for consciousness and sleep. Therefore, injuries of this sensitive area of the brain can shut off the consciousness and lead to a coma stage. Moreover, physicians differentiate between the coma stage and the after coma stages by certain diagnostic results which are the complete absence of wakefulness, awareness, reflexive
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One sign of improvement is eye opening and closure which displays a sleep-wake cycle. In addition, patients may also evolve with other positive signs such as reflexive and spontaneous movements. For example, chewing, shedding tears, and facial/oral reflexes (e.g. smiling, saliva swallowing). Besides these signs, patients might show responsive signs to different external stimulations. For instance, loud noises can produce fast breathing, grimaces, and limb