What effects does a coma have on your internal organs?

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A friend of mine has been in a coma due to a brain aneurysm rupturing for a month now. The Dr's found that her colon is deteriorating. Is this normal or is something else going on?
something else...  (+ info)

What machines and drugs do the doctors use for a coma patient?

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Like since the person in coma can't eat or drink. What do you the doctors do? And does the person go to the bathroom, through a tube that goes into a container hooked up to the bed?

I want to also know how they monitor the person's brain and other things that will help the doctor in seeing if the person will get better or become a vegetable or brain dead.
It all depends on why and how long they have been in a coma. Sometimes doctor's put people under medical induced coma which is more controlled. The patient uses the bathroom through a tube and is fed using supplements given through an Iv (Intra Venous) a needle in their arm giving them medicine through their blood. To monitor their brain they use EKG's, which monitors brain waves  (+ info)

What are the chances of coming out of a diabetic coma?

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My grandma is in a coma right now and from what I am told from my mum, its because she has really bad diabetes and that her body aches.
My grandma is about 85 years old.
she has been in it for about 1 day now
Sorry to hear about your grandmother.

If she is in a medically induced coma, that is a good thing. If she is in a coma that came about because of a hypoglycemic attack, then maybe things are not looking good, but you never know with medical science these days ... they're doing things differently all the time.

Everybody, no matter their age, has a different way of handling coma. Some people get through the worst things imaginable, while others don't survive a bump on the head. No-one can foretell how strong your grandmother is, only time will.  (+ info)

What does a homeostatic imbalance have to do with a person being in a coma?

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What does a homeostatic imbalance have to do with a person being in a coma? And what roles do the negative and positive feedback systems have on a person in a coma?
Much disease results from disturbance of homeostasis, a condition known as homeostatic imbalance. As it ages, every organism will lose efficiency in its control systems. The inefficiencies gradually result in an unstable internal environment that increases the risk for illness. In addition, homeostatic imbalance is also responsible for the physical changes associated with aging. Even more serious than illness and other characteristics of aging, is coma or death. Heart failure has been seen where nominal negative feedback mechanisms become overwhelmed, and destructive positive feedback mechanisms then take over.

Negative feedback mechanisms reduce or suppress the original stimulus, given the effector’s output. Most homeostatic control mechanisms require a negative feedback loop to keep conditions from exceeding tolerable limits. The purpose is to prevent sudden severe changes within a complex organism. There are hundreds of negative feedback mechanisms in the human body. Among the most important regulatory functions are: thermoregulation, osmoregulation, and glucoregulation. The kidneys contribute to homeostasis in four important ways: regulation of blood water levels, reabsorption of substances into the blood, maintenance of salt and ion levels in the blood, and excretion of urea and other wastes.

A negative feedback mechanism example is the typical home heating system. Its thermostat houses a thermometer, the receptor that senses when the temperature is too low. The control center, also housed in the thermostat, senses and responds to the thermometer when the temperature drops below a specified set point. Below that target level, the thermostat sends a message to the effector, the furnace. The furnace then produces heat, which warms the house. Once the thermostat senses a target level of heat has been reached, it will signal the furnace to turn off, thus maintaining a comfortable temperature - not too hot nor cold.

Positive feedback mechanisms are designed to accelerate or enhance the output created by a stimulus that has already been activated. Unlike negative feedback mechanisms that initiate to maintain or regulate physiological functions within a set and narrow range, the positive feedback mechanisms are designed to push levels out of normal ranges. To achieve this purpose, a series of events initiate a cascading process that builds to increase the effect of the stimulus. This process can be beneficial but is rarely used by the body due to risks of the acceleration becoming uncontrollable.

One bodily positive feedback example event is blood platelet accumulation which in turn causes blood clotting in response to a break or tear in the lining of blood vessels. Another example is the release of oxytocin to intensify the contractions that take place during childbirth.

Positive feedback can also be harmful. An example being when you have a fever it causes a positive feedback within homeostasis that pushes the temperature continually higher. Body temperature can reach extremes of 113 degrees, at which cellular proteins stop working and the metabolism stop, ultimately resulting in death.  (+ info)

How long does it take for a person to wake up from Coma?

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My friend's father-in-law has been in coma for the past 6 months or so. It is causing their whole family a lot of distress and sorrow. Anybody know how long does it take for a person to wake up from coma? What is the longest duration that anyone has been known to be in coma?

Are there any alternative therapies like acupuncture or holistic healing that can be used to wake a person up from Coma?

Thanks for all answers in advance!
Only time can tell to be honest.

Here is the record for the longest time in coma, from Guinness World Records

Longest coma Elaine Esposito (USA) never regained consciousness after undergoing an appendectomy on August 6, 1941, at age six. She died on November 25, 1978, at the age of 43 years 357 days. She had been in a coma for 37 years 111 days.  (+ info)

What is the longest time someone has been in a coma and recovered fully?

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Just a personal project I am doing at the moment. What is the longest time that someone has been in a coma and recovered fully? If you can specify how they came to be in their comatose state, that would be great too. =)
A polish railroad worker recovered after 19 years. Ive heard numbers as high as 21 years but the pole is the only one I know of. Poor guy got hit by a train.  (+ info)

What will cause a coma when shot in the heart?

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What will cause a coma when shot in the heart or around the heart (pericardium)? Loss of blood pressure? And what will the consequences be, brain damage, mobility impairment?
If you are shot in the heart you will most likely die.

Coma would be induced medically so that they could intubate (put a tube down the trachea for artifical breathing). However with the loss of blood and insuffiency of the pump (the heart) there would not be enough circulating blood to get to the brain. The brain controls ALL bodily functions. With the brain getting fuel you will die.  (+ info)

How can someone in a coma get pneumonia?

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My family has a friend, who tried to kill himself this past saturday. He overdosed on pills. He was unconscious that night, and had to put him on Life Support. He has been in a coma since then but on Monday, they took him off it, with him surviving 24 breathes a minute. They discovered later on that he has pneumonia. I was wondering, out of all of this, how could he have got pneumonia?
I'm sorry. He could have aspirated when he was unconscious on Saturday or later. Sometimes people take pills that make them unconscious, but they vomit and it goes from the esophagus (food tube) into the mouth and down the trachea (wind pipe) because they have no gag reflex because of the medications. Sometimes this happens even with saliva. If he was on a ventilator, he still could have aspirated (inhaled into his lungs) either vomit or saliva because even though the tube in the trachea has a balloon that is blown up to prevent this and to deliver oxygen without it leaking out through his mouth, liquid can still get around it. People on ventilators are heavily sedated and have no gag reflex. Also, pneumonia takes a day or two to show up on a chest xray and develop after this happens, because the chemical reaction or bacteria take a while to grow. It is no one's fault and happens. Also, people in his condition, aren't able to cough and clear their secretions like you or I do on a regular basis, so secretions settle and set him up for an infection. Unfortunately there are nosocomial (hospital aquired) infections in the hospital that can be passed from patient to patient which is less likely, however you or I being healthy, would not be likely to develope a pneumonia from it. This is less likely. Thankfully it is usually able to be treated. Take care.  (+ info)

What causes a person to go into a coma if they got shot in the hand?

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My friend got shot in the hand and lost alot of blood and now he's in a coma. What caused him to go into a coma just from a shot to the hand? Blood loss? What are the chances of him getting better? Could someone please explain to me please. I'm really worried and scared about this. Serious answers only please.
Blood loss can cause a person to become hypovolemic (loss of fluid) and it probably could. The only way I could see that much blood loss with a GSW to the hand is if it hit the wrist and tore through the radial artery. People have had amputations with very little blood loss due to the bloods ability to clot.
If the hand got infected and caused sepsis then yes I can see them going into a coma. Sepsis is an infection of the blood and can be fatal. If caught early enough it is surviveable.  (+ info)

What usually happens to longterm coma patients if they were to wake up?

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Say someone was in a coma going on for six years now and there's no reason to think he might wake up but he doesn't need more than a nurses care to remain stable, would it be common or at least within the realm of possibility for the patient to be brought to a family members house to lower extended hospital costs? Also, is it true that they typically have no control over their bowels upon waking and for how long?
No, it would not be common for a patient like that to be out a long-term care facility. The person would be unable to eat and require tube feedings. They would be incontinent of urine and stool and likely require regular bowel care such as enemas to prevent constipation. They would require regular and frequent repositioning to avoid bedsores. Someone would have to be with the patient at all times.

All that being said, it is not impossible for a patient in this condition to be cared for in a home setting. It would just be very difficult and require extensive preparation.

The chances of someone who has been comatose for six years waking spontaneously is close to zero.  (+ info)

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