Talk:Locked-in syndrome

Contradiction

There's an apparent contradiction in this article: "those who are locked-in have no bodily feeling" "they can still feel sensations" So which is it? --Delldot 17:02, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

People, like my brother, with locked-in syndrome still feel bodily sensations. And, panic, along with all the other emotions, may be felt as well. Day 11/1/05

I was about to ask the same question Delldot did. This contradiction should be fixed.

I changed the text to reflect what the majority of the article states and what seems most logical. Assumably, because they DO maintain the feeling of touch, pain, and the location of their limbs, there is no state of panic -- unlike paralysis which inherently includes an abnormal sensation in the affected locations. --Wolf530 01:16, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

The Post-Traumatic Vegetative State By Giuliano Dolce, Leon Sazbon (available through Google Books) page 37 gives the neurological characteristics of locked-in syndrome, and the feeling of pain is present, as is a normal sleep-wake cycle and relatively normal EEG activity. Thayvian (talk) 12:00, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

Technologies mentioned

The article states "several devices are available to help patients communicate." What are those devices? I am a software engineer and work in visualization and have interest in make in cheap communication device so I would like to know if it exists already. --dmcmanam July 12, 2006 (UTC)

A good description of the technology involved is available here. --Arcadian 19:46, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

A description of possible technologies is available here.

Capitalization

The are 3 different styles used on the article, 'Locked-In syndrome', 'Locked-In Syndrome' and 'locked-in syndrome', is there a "correct" one to use, or should one be picked and used continuously? Jariola 10:53, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Good eye. I also thought something was strange when i searched for 'locked-in syndrome' and noticed that i was redirected from 'Locked-in syndrome' to 'Locked-In syndrome'. Anyway, i looked it up on UpToDate and a quick MEDLINE search. Most call it 'locked-in syndrome' or 'LIS'. Some call it 'the locked-in syndrome'. a few call it 'Locked-In Syndrome'. My judgement: it should not be capitalized. And since this doesn't seem to be a very hot topic (last post: June 2007), i'm going to go ahead and make the changes.--Jmjanzen (talk) 16:26, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Metallica "One" video

Given that this video contains clips of the film Johnny Got His Gun - to which Metallica bought the rights - which is not about Locked-In syndrome, but disability due to loss of limbs and other damage caused in battle, I don't think it is appropriate to suggest One is a cultural reference. There may be some way to relate Johnny Got His Gun to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. --65.95.69.219 03:46, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

I agree, it should be removed. He is not paralysed at all, but has lost all his limbs. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.131.154.41 (talk) 07:00, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

It was my understanding that the subject of the video/song One was unable to see, speak, hear, or feel (by touch) and had lost all limbs. So I was under the impression that his condition went beyond Locked-In Syndrome by also being unable to experience the outside world at all. I don't insist on this, but it was my understanding. Dachande (talk) 18:11, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

BBC article on this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7094526.stm 86.132.138.84 04:30, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

Trivia Section

You can have a look at the Wikipedia guideline on trivia here: Wikipedia:Trivia sections. If material from trivia sections can be incorporated into the article, it should be, as has been done with the Bauby book and film. However, this is an encyclopedic article on a medical condition, not a repository for every mention of the medical condition in popular culture. The fact that Locked-in syndrome was featured on an episode of CSI, or Scrubs, or Desperate Housewives or the subject of a Metallica song is not appropriate for an encyclopedic article on a medical condition. If you think any of the information should be incorporated into the article, please do so. Dgf32 (talk) 17:01, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

I disagree with you. First it's not really a trivia section, it's a list of books etc where locked in syndrome is mentioned, many articles (and encyclopedias) have such lists. Why is this specific list notable? Because if someone is trying to get more information about what it's like for a locked in person, that is exactly where they would look! This list is actually a very important part of the article. Locked in syndrome is a very rare and strange situation, and people have a hard time understanding what it's like. Reading books, or watching films about it helps people understand.

You would have a point if the list is very very long, you are right: wikipedia can not be a repository for every place it was mentioned. But in actuallity the list is not that long, and unless there are a tremendous number of book etc written about it in the near future, it's unlikely the list will grow all that much.

One thing I will say: if you wish to remove incidental mentions of locked in syndrome I would support that. The metallica song was already removed, and looking at the list all the other ones have a main character with the condition, so they are appropriate. Ariel. (talk) 23:06, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

That's a very good point. Accounts of patient experiences with locked-in syndrome would be useful, but it would be better to integrate them into the article rather than have a pop culture section. Dgf32 (talk) 23:12, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

I edited the list removing the following: the Metallica song, the novel Sleepyhead ("a murderer is able to induce locked-in syndrome by manipulating cranial pressure points"), and the German metal band SITD song. Dgf32 (talk) 23:21, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

SITD isn't metal - they're electronic, or industrial. Second, the song did a notable job of having a dramatic effect in regards to the probably-nightmarish situation of suffering from locked-in syndrome. The whole idea of adding the song to the "cultural references" is so people could check out some artistic representations of the emotional/etc. effects of that syndrome. Frankly, this is valuable considering the obvious harsh nature of locked-in syndrome. "this is an encyclopedic article on a medical condition, not a repository for every mention of the medical condition in popular culture"? Yup, but it's not an entry in a medical dictionary/glossary/textbook. It's an entry on a site where people go to find a wide variety of information on a subject. Just because they're searching a medical condition doesn't mean they want textbook data. Searching something of a certain subject doesn't inherently preclude wanting related information of a wider variety of natures. Not to mention, no one was intending to keep a list of EVERY mention of LIS. As you had seen, just a handful of people added references they felt were notable, for cultural or informative reasons. Frankly, if someone thought it was worth editing the page and adding, it probably WAS.

I hate junking articles up with tags, so I removed the trivia tag. However anyone should feel free to integrate the subject matter into the article. Dgf32 (talk) 23:28, 10 March 2008 (UTC)