Could a Sleeping Pill 'Wake Up' Coma Patients?

March 13, 2007 — -- For many of us, it's a quick and easy way to help us fall asleep.

But for a few patients with brain damage, taking zolpidem -- a drug commonly known by the brand name Ambien -- may lead to increased alertness, as well as improved language and motor skills, French researchers report.

A study, which appears in the current issue of Annals of Neurology, involved only a single patient: a woman who had suffered brain injury when a suicide attempt led to oxygen being cut off to her brain.

This left her with a condition known as akinetic mutism. She could see and otherwise sense everything going on around her, but she was unable to communicate, feed herself or walk.

The patient, however, still experienced insomnia. This led doctors to add a dose of zolpidem to her usual treatment.

That's when things got interesting.

"Twenty minutes later, her family noticed surprising signs of arousal," the authors write. "She became able to communicate to her family, to eat without [swallowing] troubles, and to move alone in her bed."

The researchers say this welcome "side effect" is exceedingly rare, but this is not the first time it has happened. Neurologists say the drug at least presents caregivers with a long-shot option -- and could possibly lead to future treatments for these patients.

While a single such case could be chalked up to a one-shot medical mystery, such effects have been seen before in other brain-damaged patients taking the drug.

In July, ABC News' "Good Morning America" reported a similar recovery of consciousness seen in George Melendez, a young Texan who had suffered brain damage in a car wreck in 1998. His injury made it impossible for him to move or communicate with his family.

The surprise came 10 minutes after he received his first dose of Ambien.

"I noticed there was no sound coming out of George," said Melendez's mother, Pat Flores, to ABC News correspondent Mike von Fremd. "And I looked over to the next bed and said, 'Hey, George.' And he comes and says, 'What?' And that was the first time he had spoken. I tugged at my husband and said, 'Look, look he is talking.'"