Brain damage test into whether unconscious patients will ever wake up
- May 31, 2016
- EmmaArnold
A new test can predict whether brain damaged patients will regain consciousness by measuring glucose levels in the brain.
Researchers at Yale University found that measuring these levels was a good indicator of how much damage has been done.
The test showed how there is a minimal energetic requirement for sustained consciousness after brain injury and that it is a highly energy-demanding process involving the entire brain.
This development means family members of brain damaged patients may no longer have to wait to see if their loved one wakes up.
Amy Wilmott, Assistant personal injury solicitor at PotterReesDolan, said:
Such information, whether this is welcome or not, at such an upsetting time, is likely to have a devastating impact on the injured party and their loved ones. It seems further research will need to be undertaken in order to predict this with more certainty
As there is currently no way of telling how long it will take for someone with brain damage to regain consciousness, families have to make the tough decision of whether or not to turn off life support.
At up to £2,000 per day, keeping a patient on life support indefinitely is expensive to the NHS.