Ambien & comas

We've previously discussed how ambien helps reactivate certain functionality in brain damaged individuals. The most recent development on that front seems to be that ambien can help stimulate the brain back toward consciousness after slipping into a coma. UPI reports on ongoing research:

A British woman who slipped into a coma six years ago after taking heroin is reportedly regaining consciousness after being given an Ambien-type drug.

Amy Pickard of Hastings was given zolpidem, the drug marketed in the United States under the name Ambien, The Daily Mail reported.

"When she takes the pill, I see her face relax and the old sparkle return to her eyes," her mother, Thelma Pickard said. "It's incredible."... She is one of 360 patients around the world in a trial on using zolpidem for coma patients.

Ambien is marketed as a sleeping pill. But in 1999, a young South African, Louis Viljoen, who had been comatose for five years, was given a pill because he was restless. Instead of going to sleep, he spoke for the first time since he had been hit by a truck.

Exciting stuff. If you need a refresher, James earlier posted a link to a New Scientist article that illuminates some of the existing theory behind findings like these.