morning_star06 OP t1_iujq9bz wrote on October 31, 2022 at 9:11 PM

Reply to comment by Any-Growth8158 in ELI5: How is a brain stroke different from brain dead and coma? by morning_star06

Thank you for your answers. How do people go into coma? Why is it that some people recover and some do not come out of coma?

Any-Growth8158 t1_iujsbui wrote on October 31, 2022 at 9:26 PM

I am an EE not an MD, so I can't give the exact cause for a coma (I'm not sure if the exact cause is known). Basically there is damage to the brain (drugs, strokes, traumatic brain injuries, hypoxia, medically induced, etc). There are different levels of a coma (some are more profound than others). The severity of the coma and the length of time in the coma affect the likelihood of a recovery. Unsurprisingly, a lower severity and a shorter time spent in a coma result in a better prognosis.