Researchers just found a surprising discovery. A man woke up from a year-long, deeply non-responsive, and paralyzed condition after being given a sleeping name called Zolpidem.
The Dutchman, 37 years of age and known in the study only as Richard, was left in a wheelchair and unable to speak for eight years after choking on a piece of meat and causing brain damage.
After suffering from a heart attack, his brain's oxygen deficiency left him with a serious neurological condition called akinetic mutism.
Neurosurgeon Dr Hissa Arnts explained, per CBC, that the condition made him awake, though not aware of his situation and cannot move and speak spontaneously.
However, Richard witnessed a "spectacular" but temporary "awakening" when Amsterdam's doctors gave him a small dose of Zolpidem (also known as Ambien in the United States).
Short-Lived Results
Richard could shake off significant physical and mental impairments just 20 minutes after taking the drug, which would otherwise leave him in a wheelchair, incontinent, reliant on a feeding tube, and utterly dependent on nursing care.
"The patient started communicating spontaneously, asking the nurse how his wheelchair was to be operated, and requesting fast food," the study, published in medical journal Cortex, stated.
He managed to walk as the staff guided the patient, researchers said. The hospital employees called Richard's father, who had not heard his son's voice for years.
In the study, doctors described Richard as' cheerful' and' alert.'
He started to display an interest in the surrounding people and artifacts after taking Ambien. But the positive results were, sadly, short-lived.
In general, Richard's upswing in physical and mental capacity lasted from one to two hours.
And then, as the research progressed, physicians found that the drug's potency also started to decline.
Did The Sleeping Pill Mute Something on His Brain?
A severe decline in efficacy was apparent after several consecutive days of administration of Zolpidem.
The time frames during which the patient could talk and walk less. During these time windows, his ability to move and speak decreased.
So doctors started tinkering and spreading the doses out.
"On average, it would require two to three medication-free weeks to notice the effects of a single dose of zolpidem again," the study found.
Richard showed no signs of spontaneous speech before the study.
He could typically respond with gestures to questions or commands, but with difficulty and usually a considerable pause.
Scientists discovered that the sleeping pill canceled or muted the impairing and excessive brain activity.
New Discovery's Impact
Although the team recognizes that the solution will only serve in this isolated case, they are hopeful that the discovery can benefit several more patients who are similarly affected.
Doctoral student Willemijn van Erp of Radboud University said before the study that Richard's condition had appeared "hopeless."
"It was clear that Richard saw and heard us, but because of his brain injury, he [barely responded] to us."
Richard's family agreed to his involvement in the Amsterdam University Medical Center studies because of his predicament.
Zolpidem, according to van Erp, had remarkable effects against all expectations.
