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Sharon unlikely to regain consciousness - doctors
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-02-07 11:02
There has been no sign that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been
in hospital since a January 4 severe stroke, is likely to regain consciousness,
doctors said on Monday.
There has been no improvement in Sharon's condition, and he is still
breathing with the aid of a respirator as Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital where
Sharon has been treated, still defines his condition as "serious but stable."
Based on information released by the hospital, doctors not involved in
Sharon's treatment said that his condition can be defined as "vegetative."
However, doctors said that the possibility that Sharon would regain
consciousness, though slim, cannot yet be completely ruled out and that there
was a slight chance that he could regain some of his physical and mental
capabilities.
"His age, his medical background and the dramatic nature of his stroke are
not in the prime minister's favor," said Dr. Avraham Lazari, deputy director of
the Re'ut rehabilitation hospital and an expert on rehabilitative medicine.
But he added that people in Sharon's condition did occasionally regain
consciousness.
"The tendency worldwide is to wait until half a year has passed since the
event in order to say whether the patient will regain full consciousness or
not," Lazari said.
The prime minister's own doctors have not yet offered any assessment of the
likelihood of his regaining consciousness.
Generally, a vegetative patient can breathe on his own, go through regular
sleep cycles and may even make occasional involuntary movements such as opening
eyes, but is not aware of his surroundings and cannot speak or heed
instructions.
Veteran Israeli politician Sharon, architect of Israel's Gaza pullout last
summer, has remained in critical but stable condition since he suffered a
massive stroke and cerebral haemorrhage on January 4.
Experts believe that the ex-general is unlikely to return to the Israeli
political stage.
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