Miracle or Science — Should We Believe Everything That We Read?

Do medical miracles really exist? Take the case of a woman waking up from “coma” after almost three decades. It sounds miraculous. But maybe we are missing something here?

When I came across the article on Science Alert, it was not reporting the news of how Ms. Abdulla miraculously woke up from her “coma”. Rather the author rightly pointed out that the “miracle” in Ms. Adbulla’s case might be an oversimplification of science.

The article from Science Alert was originally published in The Conversation — a media outlet sourced from academics and researchers. The author, Jenny Kitzinger is a Professor of Communications Research at Cardiff University. She is also the co-director of the Coma and Disorders of Consciousness Research Centre, which explores cultural, social and ethical aspects of the vegetative and minimally conscious states.

The curious me decided to read the original story from other media sources. That’s when I realized — we need more articles like this one by Prof. Kitzinger! While the original news story stated the exact diagnosis by the doctors - minimally conscious — the other media outlets, who proliferated the story, used terms like “coma”, “vegetative state” and “minimally conscious” interchangeably. In reality, these are three different medical terms with different meanings. Until today, like most of you, I also believed that they were the same.

But let’s have a look at the science, or rather the medicine, behind this case.

The UK National Healthcare System website provides a very clear explanation of what the three terms mean. Coma refers to when a person shows no signs of being awake and a complete lack of awareness, including no responses to pain. A person in a vegetative state is awake but does not show awareness of the environment. They may have basic reflexes but are not able to show responses, such as following an object with their eyes. And a minimally conscious person shows a clear but inconsistent awareness. At times, they can even communicate or respond to commands.

In all three cases, the chances of recovery are impossible to predict. However, a minimally conscious state is often a transition point on the way to recovery for patients coming out of a coma. Some studies also show that chances of complete recovery from a minimally conscious state are higher than from a vegetative state. But of course, this makes Ms. Abdulla’s case sound less “miraculous” and in our modern world, we are often in desperate need of a miracle.

This story, in my view, brings to light an important issue.

Whether we are research scientists, medical professionals, engineers or science enthusiasts, it is not possible to know every scientific or medical term. And we often depend on the media to gain this knowledge and “translate” it for us. It is common to mix up some terms, but this article (and a bunch of others out there) underlines the need for better research of each story. Of course, the journalists alone cannot be blamed, given the strict time schedules and the fact that they are not experts in the field. But it surely emphasizes the need for journalists to approach the real experts — scientists or doctors — to avoid circulating myths and false hopes.

As for the rest of us, a little caution while reading would help. Not everything that is available on the internet can be taken as a fact. Sometimes these “facts” are oversimplified or overstated, especially when it comes to “medical miracles”.

When in doubt, a little extra reading doesn’t hurt! Certainly, Wikipedia does not count as extra reading…

Here is the Science Alert article: https://www.sciencealert.com/can-you-awake-after-decades-in-a-coma-here-s-the-science

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