Tests on Ariel Sharon’s brain show some improvement

[bemildred]

Keep hope alive.

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Tests on former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon showed that he has significant brain activity, despite being presumed to be in a vegetative state.

The tests conducted at Soroka University Medical Center to assess to what extent Sharon's brain responded to external stimuli showed significant brain activity, including when he saw photos of his family and heard his son's voice, the medical center said in a statement issued Sunday.

The tests were conducted late last week.

“Information from the external world is being transferred to the appropriate parts of Mr. Sharon’s brain, however, the evidence does not as clearly indicate whether Mr. Sharon is consciously perceiving this information,” according to Professor Martin Monti of the departments of psychology and neurosurgery at the University of California Los Angeles.

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/01/27/3117911/tests-on-ariel-sharons-brain-show-some-improvement

[hlthe2b]

1. Six years in a vegetative state and now 84 years old...

I don't know.... I wouldn't want this for myself, I know my parents would not have wanted it...

Excitement over what is essentially evidence of some synapses firing with no conscious awareness in someone very likely to have age related deterioration, even without the stroke?..

[bemildred]

2. If I commented much I'd say something offensive.

So, better not.

[azurnoir]

3. the title alone............

[bemildred]

4. Yeah, it's like a minefield.

[Jefferson23]

5. lol, true. n/t

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

6. Perhaps if he had exercised more and been on a diet he

may have avoided the stroke which felled him. It's too bad really when people don't look after themselves and only try to when it is too late.

[bemildred]

7. I do wish he was here to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

So to speak ...

But this works pretty well too.

As I said in post #2, I'd better be quiet or I'll offend somebody.

[shaayecanaan]

8. Back when he was a widely-ridiculed war criminal...

he went on a hunger strike, in 1995. Journalists had a field day with it. Amazingly, it lasted for eight days, although it probably improved his health.

[LeftishBrit]

9. It would have been better to let him go peacefully IMO

I wouldn't want to be kept alive for years in such a condition - even worse if there are flickers of awareness. My mother has signed an advance directive to prevent such a situation for herself. I realize some people want to be kept alive under any circumstances, but to me some fates are worse than death.