this brainstem unlike the rain that person is working. >> host: like terri schiavo? >> guest:? >> guest: yes, probably not the -- but she probably was not there from what the autopsy was telling us. the brainstem is functioning to breathe on your own but the rest of the brain is gone and you have no consciousness. it's estimated there are something like 100,000 people in pbs in this country alone and the tests for pbs were devised in the 1970s by man named fred he said you don't need to allergy and you don't need equipment. a lot of it had to do with the examination of the eyes and reflexes. when they put pet scans on these people in england, that doctor named adrian owen, he found 43% of them are unconscious. these are people we have judged the unconscious and some of them have been in this thing for four years. he devised ways of communicating with them through hand busters. for years the families of these patients have said you know, our son or my husband or whatever seems very aware when people he likes come into the room. he lightens up and if there is a doctor he likes or

these tests only test the brainstem. the stock at the base of the brain. it doesn't test the cortex, which is what most of us think of as our brain. it is where we think and feel and where we feel pain and pleasure. where we see things. your things. so you should take an eeg of a patient to see if there are any brain waves. these confirmatory tests, they have actually decreased through the years. not increased. as more technology has been developed, it has not been used. for example, pet scans, which are used in england, persistent vegetative state patients, to see if they were really unconscious. unlike a brain-dead person, their stem is working. >> she was probably not there for what the autopsy says. but the brainstem is functioning but the rest of the brain is gone. and you have no consciousness. it is estimated there are something like 100,000 people in pvs in this country alone. in the tests for pbs were devised in the 1970s by a man named fred. he said you don't need technology or equipment, just do these things. a lot of it had to do with examinati

originally the harvard committee said there should be comforter tests because these tests on the test brainstem from the stock at the base of the brain. it doesn't testify cortex which is what most of us think of your brain where we think and feel and feel pain and pleasure, where we see things and hear things so they should take any eg of the patient to see if there are brain waves and that's been he eliminated petraeus decrease through the years and has more technology has been developed it hasn't been used. for example, head scams were used in england on a persistent vegetative state patient to see if they are unconscious. the vegetative patient, his brain stem and like a brain-dead person is working -- >> host: teri schiavo. >> guest: yes, she probably wasn't there from the autopsy is telling us that the brains dennis functioning to breathe on your own but the rest of the brain is gone and you have no consciousness. it's estimated there were something like 100 fils and people in a pds in this country alone and the tests were devised in the 1970's by a man named fred and he said you don't ne

it turns out that he developed one of these jammers in the middle of his brainstem. no one on the adult side could come up with a solution and his wife coming in outcome had been working with ray for years and she said you do all these amazing things. you can operate on a has-been. she said -- she's a kid at heart -- you know i talk to him and i said, you know, there is a 50/50 chance that you will die on the table if we tried to take a tumor out. then he said something relatively profound. he said there's 100% chance i'm going to die if you don't take it out. so i'll go with the 50. during that operation, which was very, very difficult, the evoked potentials, like the electric waves, so you have one for the heart, one for the brain, they went flat. the anesthesiologist who is not in favor of the operation the first place and see that, killed him. well, i wasn't happy, but we did get the tumor out and be close to not have a rather somber and the next morning he was awake and cracking jokes. he did perfectly fine. but i don't necessarily believe some of those cases ar

central nervous system, and it turns out that he developed one of these tumors in the middle of his brainstem. and no one on the adult side could come up with a solution. his wife had been working with me for years and she said you do all these amazing things. you can operate on my husband. should i say but he is not a kid. she said, he is a kid at heart. i talked to him and i said you know, there is a 50/50 chance that you will die on the table if we try to tried to take the tumor out. and he said something relatively profound. he said, there's a 100% chance i'm going to die if you don't take it out. so i will go with 50. during that operation, which is very very difficult, the electric waves, sort of like they have one for the heart and you have one for the brain, they went flat. the anesthesiologist, who was not in favor of the operation in the first place, said did you see that? you killed him. i wasn't happy but we did get the tumor out and we closed him up and we were rather somber, and the next morning, he was awake and cracking jokes. he did perfectly fine. but i don't necessarily bel