Article on Slashdot...

[per_solo]

Ok..I have no idea what to think of this.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5008744.stm

Basics of the article...a sleep drug is thought to be able to "reverse" the effects of a Persistent Vegetative State...although the research is unsure so far, and some say that the drug only works on those who didn't REALLY have a PVS...

Most recently, this condition was brought to a head due to the Terry Schiavo case, in Florida. Those who know me know that I've had my own experience with such a state...long time ago. One of the scars that I've actually been better about in the last several years.

So, the mysteries of the human mind, or the brain rather, always fascinates me...what damage we can take, what we can and can't recover from...and just what drugs can do to us.

Much like the earlier article, there comes a question of interference, are we interfering with a great "will" (God, Fate, Time, Whatever..to steal from Quantum Leap), or are these the conditions and maladies that we should be able to cure as we progress as a species? Wasn't there a time where a C-Section was thought to be evil?

As always with Slashdot, a few user comments.

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"As we get more and technologically advanced, these what-if questions will always come up, and it's important to be serious about it.

If we develop the technology do bring a truly dead person back to life: to re-animate a day old corpse, will cremation be murder?

Or take the Schiavo case: it may one day be possible to insert new brain cells into someone like that and have them get up and be a person again. But they may not be the same person: the old brain matter that held their memories and personality may be gone. And yet, since we can do that, should we never pull the plug on a brain dead person?

What makes you, you? And what rights do YOU have in determining whether medical science can essentially keep your body alive, forever, no matter what happens to that "you?""

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It'd be cool to know exactly what "simple questions" were asked and what their responses were. My definition of a "simple question" might differ from theirs. Even if they had asked /complex/ questions, that doesn't necessarily mean the answer was correct or even intelligible.

Researcher: Hi there, can you see me? Patient: FFOOOOOOOOOMDE!

Sure, they interacted with the researcher and they answered a simple question. Their response could even arguably be considered a word, perhaps poorly pronounced, but... I fear the article leads this discovery to sound more amazing than it actually might be.

Comments

[confusedjew.livejournal.com]

interesting question that's actually explored in imposter. gary sinise movie where aliens fight wars with clone like bombs that have the memories of the people they replace. great movie that makes you head heart in a good way.


my thoughts are always this, death is there for a reason as is illness and pain while we should try and heal it is possibly to go crazy with it.

[per_solo]

Will have to watch IMposter...sounds familiar...

Well, the main thought tends to be that varied things happen for a reason...at what point are we circumventing a "divine" plan?

[confusedjew.livejournal.com]

is one of the movies based on short stories by philip k dick. wrote total recall, minority report stuff like that. deemed a futurist because he explored the human condition within the sphere of science fiction, while futuristic and sciencey really about people.


to answer that question one would have to establish whether or not one believes in the divine.

[per_solo]

Very true...but, divine can cover a vast amount of trains of thought...Christian, Wiccan, hell, even agnostics believe in "something"...:-)

[confusedjew.livejournal.com]

true that...true that...

[oftenrebuked.livejournal.com]

oh, Per, the stories I could tell you being a neurology nurse. The fact of the matter is that no matter what you or I do, a brain injury (medical or trauma) is always going to leave changes(behavioral and/or physical of various degrees), who dies or lives is never in our hands, and make a living will clearing stating what you want (with all the conditions imaginable), and someone you absolutely trust to make those decisions for you. And that last part is where the confusion steps in.

[per_solo]

:-) Don't I know it. I keep saying one of these days, I'll get off my ass and fill out a living will...the worse part is figuring who to empower to make those decisions.