I'm really interested in this stuff, especially since I used to perform EEG's and look at brain waves all day. I'm following the baby on FB that was mentioned in that article about the boy asking santa to pray with him. He is 3 months old and almost died of SIDS. He was declared brain dead on the first test, but could not be declared brain dead after the second test because he was taking two breaths a minute on his own. I am really rooting for him to heal, though I know it's highly unlikely he will ever even progress to a vegetative state. It's so sad that it looks like he's peacefully sleeping, when in reality there's next to nothing going on in his brain. It brings back sad memories of when I performed EEGs on brain damaged babies, during clinicals. The parents have him home on a ventilator and are doing all of his care taking. I would probably do the same as them for awhile, but if there was no improvement after awhile, I would let him go. Living a life of unconsciousness is no way to live.
The tests for brain death are so thorough and extensive, that brain death is considered dead, period. When a person is declared brain dead, that is the time that is written on their death certificate. And it makes sense to me. Your brain is your control center and if it dies, you die. But in light of these very rare accounts of people coming back from brain death, I think they really need to revise things and give it a little more time before they declare someone brain dead. I wonder how many people have been taken off the ventilator, who would have healed if given more time. It's chilling.
That said, from what I've been reading online about what happens to the brain when there is trauma, lack of oxygen, etc, I don't see HOW your brain can come back from that, especially not to fully functioning. That is crazy!
_________________ Mom to Christian (13), Saphira (10), Xavier (5), and Adrian (2).
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