Histamines on my mind

July 11, 2004 by smazsyr

I read a recent study (maybe it was actually on the radio) discussing the role histamines play in waking. Without histamines, we tend to stay asleep. That's why anti-histamines can make you so drowsy. That got me thinking about one of my favorite conundrums and what would happen if you administered histamines to someone in a coma from which you want them to wake up?

The whole deep coma without brain death thing fascinates me. Being simply submerged in unconsciousness. I'm guessing that one day there will be something akin to shock paddles for the brain, that physicians will use to jumpstart a brain the way you can now a heart. But rather than simply start the organ up, they'll massage it from one wave to another. Am I full of shit?