German doctors treating Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny for suspected poisoning say the dissident is still in a coma, but his condition is stable and his symptoms are improving.
Navalny, a corruption investigator who is one of the harshest critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin, fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia about a week ago and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk. after the plane made an emergency landing.
Last weekend he was transferred to the Charite Hospital in Berlin, where doctors found indications of “cholinesterase inhibitors” in his system. Found in some medicines, pesticides and chemical nerve agents, cholinesterase inhibitors block the breakdown of an important chemical in the body, acetycholine, which transmits signals between nerve cells.
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He is being treated with the antidote atropine. Charite said Friday that “there has been some improvement in the symptoms caused by the inhibition of cholinesterase activity.”
“While his condition remains serious, there is no immediate danger to his life,” the hospital said. “However, due to the seriousness of the patient’s poisoning, it remains too early to measure long-term potential effects.”
