Doctors at Hadassah Hospital are expected to cease administering
sedatives to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Wednesday, Israel Radio
reported.
The effects of the medication are expected to wear off within 36
hours, at which point doctors will be able to assess further any
neurological improvement.
In fact, the hospital has been gradually reducing the level of
sedatives since Monday to wake him from medically induced coma.
Sharon moved his left arm on Tuesday for the first time since he
suffered a massive stroke and brain hemorrhage last Wednesday.
The damage to Sharon's brain is believed to be concentrated in
the right hemisphere which control the left side of his body.
In addition, the movements of Sharon's right arm and leg were
more intense than in a test to check his response to pain on
Monday, hospital director Shlomo Mor-Yosef told reporters Tuesday
evening.
"The prime minister's condition is serious but there is no
immediate danger to the prime minister's life," said Sharon's
anesthetist Yoram Weiss.
(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2006)
