Text 10698, 40 rader
Skriven 2005-03-31 00:14:26 av EARL CROASMUN (1:275/311)
     Kommentar till en text av VERN HUMPHREY
Ärende: Bo Gritz
================
-> EC>There are some things that modern medicine can be fairly sure of.  One
-> EC>is that brain functions cannot be performed by dead, atrophied tissue.
-> EC>The reports I have read indicate that patients in a PVS typically have
-> EC>very low EEGs, in the range of five percent of normal.  Hers is zero.
-> EC>Flat.  None.

-> She has a FLAT EEG?  I don't think so.

"While we at American Council on Science and Health have been determined
to remain on the sidelines of the raging national debate about the fate
of Terri Schiavo (this is largely a legal and ethical issue, not a
scientific one), we cannot remain silent about the outrageous
misrepresentation of scientific facts about this case that has been
occurring in the past ten days.

The medical reality of Ms. Schiavo's case is this: She has been in what
is medically referred to as a "permanent vegetative state" for the past
15 years, ever since her heart temporarily stopped (probably due to the
severe effects of an eating disorder), depriving her brain of oxygen.
Brain scans indicate that her cerebral cortex ceased functioning --
probably just after she experienced cardiac arrest in 1990. Ms.
Schiavo's CAT scan shows massive shrinking of the brain, and her EEG is
flat. Physicians confirm that there is no electrical activity coming
from her brain. While the family video repeatedly shown on television
suggests otherwise, her non-functioning cortex precludes cognition,
including any ability to interact or communicate with people or show any
signs of awareness. Dozens of experts over the years who have examined
Ms. Schiavo agree that there is no hope of her recovering -- even though
her body, face and eyes (if she is given food and hydration) might
continue to move for decades to come."
 --  Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan, president of the American Council on
Science and Health






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