For Unresponsive "Comotose" Patients a New Simple Test

Give her the sniff test!

New Test Can Predict Recovery after Coma

I've been studying end of life issues and "brain death" for years. When I read about a "sniff test" that can predict whether a person will "wake up" I was thrilled! So simple! Just see if the person sniffs at strong odors:

According to Noam Sobel, PhD, of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, one of the authors of the article and speaking to MedpageToday:
“If you sniff at an odorant, then it’s 100% you will regain consciousness to at least a minimal level, and you will likely live for years,” he told MedPage Today. “If you don’t sniff at an odorant, that is a bad sign, but not all hope is lost.” (Emphasis added) 

Amazingly, he said that 37.5% of the unresponsive patients who didn’t sniff did eventually regain consciousness.

Wow! 

Let's pray to see this study replicated over and over. And let's stop using the term "persistent vegetative state." People aren't carrots or potatoes (well, maybe some of us are couch potatoes). Why not describe the apparently unaware person as being in "persistent sleep state" (PSS)? 

So many who "wake up" describe hearing everything going on around them. Some even wake up calling the nurses by name because they heard them talking during treatment. This is important information to get to families who are fighting doctors and hospital ethics boards to keep them from killing patients. Note this from the article:

“Published evidence from Canada in a large cohort of ICU patients with traumatic brain injury [TBI] found that approximately 70% of the deaths were due to withdrawal of treatment and in about 60% of cases, the decision to stop treatment was made within 72 hours,” he said. “It’s possible that a positive sniff test might delay this decision, which is important since we know that about 20% of TBI patients who survive what appears to be catastrophic injury recover to a functionally-independent level by 5 years post-injury.” (Emphasis added)

Dehumanizing the sick (or any person) is wrong. Being the conductor of the fast train to the cemetery is double wrong and many doctors vie for the job. Dehumanizing and then killing the patient is diabolical. Fight for your loves ones! And never ever let them do the apnea test which further damages the brain of an already brain damaged patient. That will likely assure that they never wake up! Ask for the sniff test. And if they won't do it, bring in an onion and some garlic and do it yourself. If it doesn't wake up your loved ones it might ward off the ghouls eager to kill off the patient (after getting your consent for organ donation).