House's "Coma Guy": Pure Sci-Fi
There's so, so much I could say about last night's episode of House. I guess if you like a good fantasy story, the show was fine, but as a physician, watching "Son of Coma Guy" was just embarrassing. How much misinformation can be crammed into a one-hour segment?
Let's start with the central figure of the episode - the "coma guy." In describing this unfortunate individual, much is made of the difference between "coma" and "persistent vegetative state." According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the U.S. NIH, a coma is a profound or deep state of unconsciousness in which the affected individual is alive but is not able to react or respond to life around him/her.
A persistent vegetative state, in contrast, refers to a condition in which individuals have lost cognitive neurological function (thinking) and awareness of the environment, but retain noncognitive function (like breathing and circulation) and a preserved sleep-wake cycle. Persistent vegetative states may follow comas and last for years, while comas normally don't last much longer than a few weeks.
So in the episode, House brings someone out of a persistent vegetative state - albeit temporarily - with a cocktail of L-Dopa (a drug used to treat Parkinson's Disease) and amphetamines. Do I really need to explain that this has never been done, likely can never be done, and is entirely based in the fantasy of the writers? I can also point out that docs (even House, if he wants to keep his license, but that's another story, especially with his drug habit) don't just decide upon and administer experimental treatments on a whim?
Painful as this is, let's now suspend judgment and assume that Dr. House's magical cocktail can really work. In 10 years of a vegetative state, the body undergoes countless changes and degenerative processes, only one of which is significant muscular atrophy (wasting) that would make sitting upright difficult, let alone walking. So coming out of a coma, excuse me..."vegetative state," and hopping in a car to drive to Atlantic City is beyond absurd. As is House's knowledge of exactly (practically to the minute) how long his patient will be awake.
In summary, the show was science fiction, and nothing more. Perhaps it was intended this way, to create a new genre of medical fantasy. Still, UFOs and aliens are somehow more believable than this.
Related Topics: Best Place to Have a Coma: Soap Operas
Technorati Tags: House, coma, vegetative state, L-Dopa
Let's start with the central figure of the episode - the "coma guy." In describing this unfortunate individual, much is made of the difference between "coma" and "persistent vegetative state." According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the U.S. NIH, a coma is a profound or deep state of unconsciousness in which the affected individual is alive but is not able to react or respond to life around him/her.
A persistent vegetative state, in contrast, refers to a condition in which individuals have lost cognitive neurological function (thinking) and awareness of the environment, but retain noncognitive function (like breathing and circulation) and a preserved sleep-wake cycle. Persistent vegetative states may follow comas and last for years, while comas normally don't last much longer than a few weeks.
So in the episode, House brings someone out of a persistent vegetative state - albeit temporarily - with a cocktail of L-Dopa (a drug used to treat Parkinson's Disease) and amphetamines. Do I really need to explain that this has never been done, likely can never be done, and is entirely based in the fantasy of the writers? I can also point out that docs (even House, if he wants to keep his license, but that's another story, especially with his drug habit) don't just decide upon and administer experimental treatments on a whim?
Painful as this is, let's now suspend judgment and assume that Dr. House's magical cocktail can really work. In 10 years of a vegetative state, the body undergoes countless changes and degenerative processes, only one of which is significant muscular atrophy (wasting) that would make sitting upright difficult, let alone walking. So coming out of a coma, excuse me..."vegetative state," and hopping in a car to drive to Atlantic City is beyond absurd. As is House's knowledge of exactly (practically to the minute) how long his patient will be awake.
In summary, the show was science fiction, and nothing more. Perhaps it was intended this way, to create a new genre of medical fantasy. Still, UFOs and aliens are somehow more believable than this.
Related Topics: Best Place to Have a Coma: Soap Operas
Technorati Tags: House, coma, vegetative state, L-Dopa
18 Comments:
Thank you! I've been arguing with some people over at Television without Pity about this all morning....no way that a guy who has been in a persistent coma for a decade is going to rise out of bed & drive to atlantic city!
And the biggest "willing suspension of disbelief" moment... getting a steak in a hospital cafeteria.
You know, up until last night, I have been a huge House fan. I hope that episode just a blip.
Wow, thanks so much for opening my eyes and telling this show is fiction, I never would've guessed.
Seriously lady, just sit back and enjoy the show. It's made for our entertainment, not medical research.
Apparently it has been done:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,,1870279,00.html
But how dare they take a medical oddity that's actually happened and embellish upon it for dramatic purposes?! Where do these fiction writers get off?! And they call themselves educators...
I love your review. It was very, very funny. There's no way in all that is holy and unholy that House woke someone from a vegetative state - especially since VS usually follows coma. There's no way that doctor would sit in a hallway and wait while a patient slowly strangles himself to death. Oh there's no way that House and Wilson would get away with it. There's no way Wilson would just walk off from his job to go on an all-day road trip with House. And the heart. Amazing how they got it back in time with no questions asked. Having said all that I loved the episode because Wilson finally confronted his junkie friedn House.
Thank you. that was great!!! I posted it in my Fox House profile.
As stated before by someone else it is a TV show meant for ENTERTAINMENT not for medical purposes. Get a grip!!!!
LOL
I find it amusing that some people are so offended by the doctor's analysis of this episode of "House".
I'm pretty sure the doctor is aware that this show is meant to be fiction, but she is simply pointing out that the "medical" information on this particular episode isn't the best. That seems to be the point of this blog, right?
Yes, most of us know that these shows are pure fiction, but isn't it kind of fun to watch and then come over here to see what's true and what's not? I think it is.
We live in a world of reality shows and "ripped from the headlines" television. It only seems natural to be curious about how close to the truth the information we watch on these shows really is.
Dr. Stoppler's comments aren't going to keep me from watching "House" each and every week. I LOVE that show! Reading this blog just gives me a different perspective and maybe teaches me something I didn't know before.
And, now after I watch "House", or "Grey's", or "ER", I get to visit here and extend my viewing pleasure just a little longer. Who knows, I might have found a new addiction. ;-)
Hey, are you all planning to cover this new show..."3 Lbs?"
I love House and yes, last night's episode was a total stretch, but I think the general public realizes that THIS IS A TV SHOW!!!!
Wow....HOUSE made WebMD! I am so very impressed! I LOVE HOUSE! The only program I make an attempt to see! Thank you Hugh Laurie!
The soap opera GENERAL HOSPITAL has a similar storyline as the one on HOUSE. After being in a catatonic-like state for 4 years, the love of Luke Spencer's life, Laura, is given an experimental drug that "awakened" Laura so that she could spend some time with her family before relapsing back into an irreversible catatonic-like state. Laura "came back" to be remarried to Luke on what would've been their 25th wedding anniversary. They got married but she begins to show signs of memory loss during the ceremony. Laura has only a few days before she reverts back to the unconscious state.
Since HOUSE and GH have similar storylines, can there be some basis for them? TV usually employs doctors to help with storylines.
I love House! But what disturbed me more, was the fact the conversation about suicide as a way to save a loved one, by donating your heart after you've killed yourself. I am not saying that if a family member or child needed a kidney I wouldnt do it, but advising someone to off themselves. I dont know, it just didnt sit right with me. This episode really disappointed me.
some people dont look like they have anything better to do. I love House and everyone that watches it knows its not real. Its entertainment. relax.
I could really care less of whether it is true or not, It is a good wait no, GREAT show. It is one of the those shows that if I miss, i will be grouchy not sleep and do everything i can to see it. I don't watch it to learn more about medicine, i do it for entertainment, the learning is what my school is for.
Actually, there is dramatic precedent for this. In "Awakenings", Robin Williams (as Dr. Oliver Sacks) rouses Robert De Niro from his catatonic torpor with l-dopa. I assume there is some real basis for this, but I didn't read Dr. Sacks' book...
I agree the guy just getting up and taking off was BS. But I have read about L Dopa being used in New York in it's experimental stages to "wake" several people in catatonic state for a short time. If I can find the doctor and/or patient names involved with the experiment again I will be more than happy to list them here. And to the doc who claims it's never been used and never could work... look a little deeper before opening your mouth.
This is another great article about House and how ridiculous some people are.
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