Question 1

what causes a coma?

Accepted Answer

Brain damage: Coma is severe brain inhibition. Injuries to the brain, such as traumas, circulation compromise, inflammation, etc, can induce coma.

Question 2

how are comas measured?

Accepted Answer

Glasgow Coma Scale.: The glasgow coma scale is the most widely used measure of a patient's mental status. Other scales are also used.

Question 3

what causes "food coma"?

Accepted Answer

Redirection of blood: Even though there is a dramatic increase in blood flow to the stomach and intestines after a meal (proven by ultrasounds) it is thought that it is the increased parasympathetic nervous system activity (opposite of the fight or flight sympathetic activity) which causes the feeling of lethargy.

Question 4

how do you feel in a coma?

Accepted Answer

Depends: Coma, subcoma, stupor, altered mental status, drowsiness are some of  the names given to different levels of altered consciousness.There has been reported cases of people in deep coma remembering what was said around  them after recovering from coma.

Question 5

what sort of disease is a coma?

Accepted Answer

Multifactorial: Coma means unarousable unresponsiveness.  It is caused by injury to both cerebral hemispheres or the central brain stem or both.  The cause is either traumatic or non traumatic .  Non traumatic  causes are many - anoxic/ischemic, metabolic, endocrine, infectious, degenerative, etc.  It is a clinical term with many disease types as cause.

Question 6

how do people in comas survive?

Accepted Answer

Survival in coma: After a relatively short time patients move from coma into a persistent vegetative state.  A person can live for many years in a persistent vegetative state.

Question 7

how can you get out from a coma?

Accepted Answer

Difficult question: It depends if the underlying reason that caused the coma is reversible or correctable. Even then it is difficult as it depends if there was too much insult to the brain or not. Recovery from coma is such a variable thing that it is difficult to answer without knowing about the specific situation. I wish i could be of more help on this, its just such a complicated thing.

Question 8

what is it like to being in a coma?

Accepted Answer

Unsure: Hard to say.  I frequently take care of patients in medically-induced (medication) comas and comas from trauma/strokes.  I have never had a patient wake up and give me an assessment.  Those that do wake up, do not recall the events.

Question 9

how does someone come out of a coma?

Accepted Answer

Coma: People emerge from coma in varied fashions and to different extents. For example, people who are in medically-induced comas may emerge from this as medication is allowed to wear off. Alternatively, a person in a coma from a disease state may emerge from coma as the disease state improves. This can be rapid (hours to days) or slow (weeks or months). Some people fully recover. Others may not.

Question 10

can you voluntarily fall into a coma?

Accepted Answer

Voluntary coma: You cannot wish yourself into coma.  Obviously there are actions you can take that will cause you to go into real coma from drugs etc..

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What causes a coma?

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How are comas measured?

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What causes "food coma"?

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How do you feel in a coma?

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What sort of disease is a coma?

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How do people in comas survive?

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How can you get out from a coma?

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What is it like to being in a coma?

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How does someone come out of a coma?

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Can you voluntarily fall into a coma?

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