Schumacher 'has responded to instructions' and 'was able to blink during brain tests' as doctors bring him out of his coma, say sources



Michael Schumacher is being taken out of artificial coma gradually



Medics are believed to have started medical procedure earlier this week



Formula One star is having training to avoid muscles withering

Schumacher, 45, is about to enter fifth week in a medically induced coma





Michael Schumacher is said to be ‘responding to instructions’ as doctors gradually bring him out of his coma.

The seven-time Formula 1 world champion is also reported to have blinked during brain tests.

He has undergone a number of neurological exams since Monday and has responded ‘positively’, according to L’Equipe newspaper which cited ‘very reliable sources’.

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Michael Schumacher is being slowly brought out of his induced coma, his manager has said. His wife Corinna insists her husband is a 'fighter' who will not give up

He has been in an induced coma in Grenoble University Hospital since then, although his condition stabilised following surgery after initially being described as critical.



After gradually reducing the sedation of the patient, the team of head doctor Emmanuel Gay have been testing his neurological reflexes since Monday.



'During the early stages the patient blinked,' the leading sports newspaper reported.



Schumacher suffered serious head injuries when he fell and hit the right side of his head on a rock in the French resort of Meribel on December 29.



He has been in an induced coma in Grenoble University Hospital since then, although his condition stabilized following surgery after initially being described as critical.



'Michael's sedation is being reduced in order to allow the start of the waking up process which may take a long time,' Schumacher's manager, Sabine Kehm, said in a statement.

'Deeply moved': Schumacher's Rolf Schumacher and brother Ralf arrive at Grenoble Hospital earlier this month. His family have issued a heartfelt thank you to fans around the world for their support

Strain: Corinna Schumacher and their children have been maintaining a constant bedside vigil since his crash

EMERGING FROM A MEDICALLY INDUCED COMA

To promote healing the German driver has been kept in a medically induced coma as well as having his body temperature reduced. This is because a traumatic head injury can cause the brain to swell and there is no room for it to expand in the skull, causing tissue damage. The thinking is that if doctors can try to reduce the energy requirements of the brain, this reduces blood flow and pressure, and allows the brain to rest. The anesthetic propofol is commonly used for induced coma - it is not known what doctors have used in Schumacher's case. Weaning the patient out of the medically induced coma means tapering the amount of barbiturates down slowly.

It can take a different amount of time depending on the patient and their injuries.

A quick withdrawal of this kind of medication could have deadly consequences.

A patient will be returned to the medically induced coma if the acute signs such as intracranial pressure or seizure activity resume during the weaning period.

Schumacher was being kept artificially sedated and his body temperature was lowered to between 34 and 35 degrees Celsius (93.2 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit), to reduce swelling in the brain, reduce its energy consumption and allow it to rest.

Kehm said she was only providing an update now on Schumacher's condition to clarify media leaks, and that no further details would be provided. French newspaper l'Equipe first reported on Wednesday that doctors had started trying to wake up Schumacher.

Experts said it was a good sign that Schumacher's doctors were trying to bring him out of the coma and that the first 24 hours would be critical.

'It means they have probably seen the pressure in his skull reduced,' said Dr. Clemens Pahl, a brain trauma expert at King's College Hospital in London.

Pahl warned that if Schumacher hasn't recovered enough to wake up on his own, doctors might need to put him back in the coma.

'It could be that swelling in his brain hasn't come to an end yet so they might need to increase the medications again,' he said.

Pahl said that wasn't uncommon in patients with brain injuries and that sometimes it took several attempts to bring someone out of an induced coma.

Probe: Investigators at the site of Schumacher's crash earlier this month where he smashed his head on a rock while skiing off-piste in Meribel, France Brain experts said it will be fundamental to determine whether Schumacher was aware of his surroundings and could respond to basic commands from doctors, like raising his hand.

'This is a test to see what his function is like,' said Dr. Anthony Strong, an emeritus chair in neurosurgery at King's College London. He said that once the sedatives wear off, Schumacher's doctors would see if he can breathe on his own and if he responds to mild pain stimulus, like gentle pressing on his eyebrows.

'Doctors will want to see if he can say `hello,' if he probe his recollection of events and to see if he can recognize family members and remember his own identity,' Strong said.

Get well soon! Cologne and Schalke stars hold out a banner wishing Michael Schumacher good health If Schumacher doesn't respond to their voice, they will also look to see if he tries to pull out any of the tubes in him or rip the dressing off his wounds - which would be a sign that he is aware of where he is.

Still, experts said it would likely be months before Schumacher's prognosis becomes clear - and that lasting brain damage was a possibility.

'If he pulls through, he may not be the man he was,' said Dr. Tipu Aziz, head of neurosurgery at Oxford University. 'Given the length of time he's been in (intensive care), he has clearly had a very severe head injury,' he said. 'It's too early to know how intact he will be, but I would guess there is going to be some kind of lasting damage.'

Schumacher earned universal acclaim for his uncommon and sometimes ruthless driving talent, which led to a record 91 race wins. He retired from Formula One in 2012 after garnering an unmatched seven world titles.

His accident happened on a family vacation in the Alps as Schumacher was skiing with his 14-year-old son.

