REMEDY FOR COMA [ back to What's New ]
In a recent issue of Brain Injury it was reported that electric stimulation of the median nerve in the arm of coma patients showed significant success in shortening the duration of coma as compared with a control group. The median nerve is wired directly to the ARAS (ascending reticular activating system) in the brain stem, which awakens the cortex by sending norepinephrine to the thalmus. The authors postulate that stimulation of the median nerve produces stimulation of the ARAS which in turn raises the arousal level of the cortex above the coma threshold. They state that median nerve stimulation cannot be regarded as a "cure" for coma based on this one study, but they believe this novel method of coma therapy holds great promise.