This doesn't really surprise me. Dr. Charles F. Ehret, my coauthor on one of my books and a world famous chronobiologist, told me that patients in a coma need to be fed on a normal schedule and, very importantly, drenched in sunshine during daylight hours, as well as mentally stimulated throughout the day. Then the person should be placed in darkness during sleep hours. The worst thing you can do is leave a "vegetative person" in a dimly lit room 24/7. It destroys his or her circadian rhythms and makes them even less able to come back.
that's very compelling. Makes me wonder what they actually put Terry Schiavo thru!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking that myself, Bonnie.
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't really surprise me. Dr. Charles F. Ehret, my coauthor on one of my books and a world famous chronobiologist, told me that patients in a coma need to be fed on a normal schedule and, very importantly, drenched in sunshine during daylight hours, as well as mentally stimulated throughout the day. Then the person should be placed in darkness during sleep hours. The worst thing you can do is leave a "vegetative person" in a dimly lit room 24/7. It destroys his or her circadian rhythms and makes them even less able to come back.
ReplyDeleteSomeone may well be in there, listening.
I'm thinking of Sunny Bulow and Karen Quinlan.
Lynne AKA The Wicked Witch of Publishing