Is such a person able to remain alive only with ventilators or feeding tubes?
A. Most people in this condition require feeding tubes, but a small number can swallow liquids, says Gerry Maitland, neurologist and professor of clinical science at Florida State University in Tallahassee. They cannot move their arms to feed themselves. Q. Her parents say that Terri Schiavo is responsive and is moving her eyes and mouth. Does that mean her brain could be functioning? A. In a persistent vegetative state, the thinking, cognitive, conscious part of brain has been disconnected from the part responsible for rudimentary functions such as eye movement or face movements, Maitland says. In this situation, he says, Schiavo can appear to be conscious because parts of her brain that control involuntary movements are functioning. Her parents maintain that she responds to them. Q. Do patients ever come out of this state? A. It’s generally accepted among neurologists that any patient who has been in a persistent vegetative state as long as Schiavo will not come out of it. The part o
