Doctors say Sharon shows 'improvement'

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s condition showed “improvement” today and he moved his left hand, doctors said, adding that there was no immediate threat to his life.

Sharon’s son’s spoke to him and he responded with an increase in blood pressure, one of his doctors said.

Sharon was recovering from a massive stroke and widespread bleeding in the right side of his brain that he suffered nearly a week ago.

As doctors began decreasing his dose of sedatives to remove him from an induced coma yesterday, he moved his right hand and leg slightly in response to pain stimulation.

Today, his movement on the right side increased and he also moved his left hand, said Dr Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the director of Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem said.

“These are neurological changes that show slight improvement in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s brain functioning,” he said.