The Glasgow Coma Scale “GCS” is a tool used by healthcare providers to measure loss of consciousness. Scores on each section of the scale are useful for describing impairments in nervous system function and also help providers track changes. It is the most widely used instrument for measuring coma and loss of consciousness.
What is the Glasgow Coma Scale?
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a tool used to measure loss of consciousness, a modern system for “scoring” or measuring how conscious you are.
This modern system measures your level of awareness and how you respond to basic instructions, which are given with numbered points.
Experts at the University of Glasgow in Scotland invented this instrument in 1974, hence its name (Glasgow Coma Scale), and it is now widely used in medicine.
What is consciousness?
If we talk about consciousness, it is in every person or creature, and this consciousness is what makes a person great, which distinguishes humans from animals. Because the level of consciousness in animals is limited or can also be understood. It is possible that consciousness in animals is determined to perform only one function.
If your level of consciousness is high then you can achieve more success in life, in fact only human consciousness is able to lead you to the path of liberation which should be the first goal of every living being, and is also mandatory for every living being.
In the modern medical context, consciousness has three requirements. What you need to be aware of:
- Wake Up: This part involves sound and touch, it looks at how much you can wake up from sound or touch. This is what separates you from just being in a coma.
- Warning: This looks at how sensitive you are to the people you are talking to and how well you understand what others are saying, it helps you understand what is going on around you.
- Oriented: This means you know yourself, who you are, what your name is, what day it is, where your homeland is, etc.
When is the Glasgow Coma Scale used?
GCS is commonly used as a requirement or as part of a neurological examination. It is also useful for other conditions such as loss of alertness, brain injury, or stroke, but is also useful for chronic or natural traumatic brain injuries.
GAX may also work for some other conditions that do not involve injury, such as low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) because it is a blood sugar meter.
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What does the Glasgow Coma Scale measure?
A neurological exam detects any problems with important parts of your Nerves system And the GCS has three categories that apply during this neurological exam. Most of these only apply to the brain exam.
However, some tests can also affect the spinal cord and nerves throughout the human body, which we have discussed below and under what conditions they may be applied:
- Eye reaction: This shows how alert you are, and how good your eyesight is.
- Motor response: This section measures the movement of the brain and body muscles to see how well your brain can control them. In addition, the relationship between other body parts is also measured.
- Verbal response: This test measures several key brain abilities to see how well your brain is working, including thinking ability, memory, attention span, and awareness.
How does the Glasgow Coma Scale work?
To get a GCS score, the provider takes the scores from all three categories and then adds them together. A good healthcare provider will examine all three categories in multiple ways and then come to a final conclusion.
For example, they will ask you various questions, such as what is your name, what city do you live in, what is your house number or what school do you study in, etc., some doctors will ask what day or date of the week it is. You can also ask such questions, all of these questions have the same purpose, which is to find out your GCS level.
But the best use of GCS is to track a person’s level of consciousness. However, your healthcare provider may repeat the neurological exam periodically to accurately monitor any changes in your GCS score and to get a final result.
This may not apply to everyone or maybe your GCS score is only known in one test so it varies from person to person, below we have explained the types of assessment guidelines for several categories, please read and know:
Eye reaction
In this test, it is seen how awake you are and how good your eyesight is, it is also seen how much your reflex reaction is to pressure, if you are not conscious then how alert you are.
Many people may feel that pressure means serious injury, but it is not, here pressure means something like a pinch or a light blow. It causes a very small momentary discomfort and is enough to make your eyes react.
| Eye reaction score | Meaning of score |
| 4 | You can open your eyes on your own and immediately and even keep them open. |
| 3 | Your eye reaction is only visible when someone asks you to do so, otherwise your eyes remain closed. |
| 2 | Your eyes open only when you feel extreme pressure. |
| 1 | Your eyes are not open for whatever reason, but you are able to understand everything. |
Verbal response
Your provider checks for this by asking questions that test your memory, thinking skills, and awareness of the world around you. Your healthcare provider may also use it to find out if you have a brain or nerve problem that is affecting your facial and mouth control.
| Verbal response score | Meaning of score |
| 5 | You are oriented. You can correctly answer questions about who you are, where you are, the day or year, etc. |
| 4 | You are confused. You can answer the questions, but your answers show that you don’t fully understand what is going on. |
| 3 | You can talk and others can understand what you say, but your answers to questions mean nothing. |
| 2 | You cannot speak and can only make sounds or noises. |
| 1 | You can’t speak or make any sounds. |
Motor response
This section can reveal any problems related to the connection between your nerves, spinal cord, and brain. It also tests your brain’s ability to control muscle movements and how well you can understand and follow instructions.
| Motor response (movement) score. | Meaning of score |
| 6 | You follow instructions on how and when to move. |
| 5 | You intentionally move away from something that puts pressure on you. |
| 4 | You simply move away from something that is putting pressure on you in the form of reflection. |
| 3 | You flex (pull) muscles in response to stress. |
| 2 | You stretch (pull out) muscles in response to stress. |
| 1 | You don’t move in response to pressure. |
What is GCS-P?
In 2018, an experiment was conducted in which a team of experts – including some of the original creators of GCS – published an updated version of “GCS” named “GCS-P”.
P stands for “Pupil”, like the pupil of a person’s eye. There is a fourth number that providers subtract from the standard GCS score.
Some students take this test where their reactions are important, and in this test the brain function signals are checked. The scale ranges from 0 to 2. If your pupils do not respond to light exposure, it means there is a serious problem or injury affecting your brain.
This measurement process has a total of 3 levels ranging from 0 to 2, namely:
- 2: No pupil reaction after exposure to light.
- 1: One pupil does not react to light, while the other pupil does.
- 0 : Both pupils react immediately to light.
Does the neurological examination using the Glasgow Coma Scale include pain?
In modern terms, the GCS does not involve any pain, but the old description used the word “pain” to test a particular reflex, which was clearly incorrect. However, the new guidelines change the word to “pressure”.
And this change is more accurate than the old term because GCS does not involve serious injury or pain, and no healthcare provider is actually trying to cause serious injury or pain to your patient.
As we have said, these are just mild response instructions to the brain regarding how that part of the body should function with that response.
In the past, the original GCS guidelines did not specify exactly where doctors should perform the GCS test. After that, a total of 1 year after the publication of the GCS, the creators published detailed guidelines on what points providers should emphasize, we have explained below, please read it too:
- Nail bed: Fingernails and toenails react differently to pressure, so doctors often apply pressure to them during a neurological exam to see how your body reacts to pressure.
- Trapezius muscle: This muscle connects the human shoulder to the middle of the neck and back. Therefore, it is an excellent muscle for distributing pressure and an accurate muscle to test.
- Supraorbital Notch: This is a small indentation in the skull bone just above the eye and just below the eyebrow, which is often checked for sinus disease. By applying pressure to this area, reactions occur in the body, such as water falling from the eyes or headaches.
What is the relationship between consciousness and the body?
Consciousness is something that every living being has but is not known to it, and the meaning of human life is to bring one’s consciousness to the best level, for that it is necessary to do yoga regularly, but in this day and age people cannot do this because of lack of time.
And this is the reason why nowadays most people are busy because their life is short and their life is ending, and many diseases enter the body, but if you follow our advice and take good care of your body. So you will never suffer from any disease and do not need tests like GCS.
Notes from the Cleveland Clinic
The Glasgow Coma Scale is a simple tool used by doctors to measure the level of consciousness or loss of consciousness in a coma. Produced about 50 years ago but is still widely used today because several improvements have been made over time, and hopefully in the future, it can be made more modern, this device is a useful diagnostic tool. The equipment is ready. Because its use helps service providers track changes in brain function with less pain. Therefore, you should also have more information about it because it is an important tool in our modern yoga.
CONCLUSION:
In this article I have shared with you some important information about GCS, and I hope you have understood everything about it, if you have any questions you can also ask us by commenting, We will try to answer your questions within 24 hours, and bookmark us for similar health tips.