Bobbi Kristina Being Weaned Out of Medically Induced Coma-UPDATE

More than three weeks after Bobbi Kristina Brown was found unresponsive in the bathtub of her Roswell, Georgia home, physicians have begun to wean the 21-year-old daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown out of her medically induced coma.

Bobbi Kristina’s condition remains serious and she remains on life support. On February 19, she underwent a tracheotomy to have a breathing tube placed into her lungs. This is frequently done in patients who have had a breathing tube for a prolonged period of time and is done to decrease the risk of infection.

Family members including her father, and grandmother Cissy Houston, have maintained a vigil by Bobbi Kristina’s bedside. A family source told PEOPLE magazine:

“There will be a sign of hope, and then nothing. Every day, we wonder if this will be the day that we get good news….We’re all hoping and praying that this [taking Bobbi Kristina off the medications] will give us some answers.”

The cause of Bobbi Kristina’s current condition is still under investigation. Some reports claim that she had regularly taken heroin, cocaine and xanax in the months before she was found unconscious. Her boyfriend, Nick Gordon, has been questioned in the matter, as well as a houseguest, Max Lomas who reportedly found Bobbi in the bathtub.

In an ironic twist of fate, Bobbi Kristina’ s mother Whitney Houston died in her bathroom almost exactly three years earlier. The Los Angeles County coroner’s report (Case Number 2012-01022) listed heart disease as a contributing factor and also noted that the singer had cocaine, marijuana, Xanax, Flexeril and Benadryl in her system as well.

UPDATE 2/26/2014

The attempt to wean Bobbi Kristina out of a medically induced coma was stopped when she began to have seizures. PEOPLE is reporting:

“She was taken off the drugs, but she began having voilent seizures. She is being put back into a coma.”

What is a tracheotomy?

What is a medically induced coma?

A medically induced coma is when a patient receives a controlled dose of an anesthetic to cause a temporary coma or a deep state of unconsciousness. The objective is to give enough medication to significantly slow brain wave activity. Drugs used include pentobarbital, thiopental, or the drug of Michael Jackson fame, propofol.

This type of coma is typically used to protect the brain from swelling. The brain swelling may be caused by injury (such as was the case for Gabby Giffords) or after brain surgery. Being in a coma reduces the blood flow through the brain as well as metabolic rate of brain tissue.

When in a medically induced coma, a patient’s vital signs must be constantly monitored by an anesthesiologist or other physician. Patients are usually intubated and ventilated (this means that a tube is placed in the windpipe and a machine breathes for you). This is done only in a critical care setting.

Subhashini Ramesh, a professor of NeuroCritical Care at Georgia Regents University who is not involved in Bobbi Kristina’s case, explained to PEOPLE. a patient may be “weaned off a medically induced coma for two reasons – because the underlying problem has improved, or to simply get a sense of what the patient is able to do for themselves.”