Brain death (2024)

FAQs

What is the first organ to shut down when dying? ›

The first organ system to “close down” is the digestive system. Digestion is a lot of work! In the last few weeks, there is really no need to process food to build new cells. That energy needs to go elsewhere.

Sadly, no one has ever recovered after being declared brain dead. What does brain death look like? Brain dead patients look asleep, but they are not. They do not hear or feel anything, including pain.

Several years ago, the autopsy report of a totally brain-dead patient named TK who was kept on life support for nearly twenty years was published in the Journal of Child Neurology. He remains the individual kept on life support the longest after suffering total brain failure.

A persistent vegetative state means the person has lost higher brain functions, but their undamaged brain stem still allows essential functions like heart rate and respiration to continue. A person in a vegetative state is alive and may recover to some degree, given time. Brain death means the person has died.

Purge fluid is foul smelling, red-brown fluid that may exude from the oral and nasal passages as decomposition progresses, as depicted in the image below.

No one knows exactly what people feel when they are dying. Many people look calm or relaxed when they die, so dying itself probably does not cause pain. Some people experience pain or discomfort in their last weeks and days of life. This can be caused by an illness, treatment or other things.

When the brain dies, the person cannot move, breathe, think or feel. Pain or suffering cease. Brain death is death, and cannot be reversed. The heart can continue to beat for awhile as the ventilator (breathing machine) provides oxygen to the body.

Permanent brain damage begins after only 4 minutes without oxygen, and death can occur as soon as 4 to 6 minutes later. Machines called automated external defibrillators (AEDs) can be found in many public places, and are available for home use.

People in a vegetative state can open their eyes, but they cannot speak or do things that require thought or conscious intention, and they have no awareness of themselves or their environment.

Velma Thomas had a heart attack at her home in Virginia in 2008 and was rushed to hospital. While there she had two more heart attacks and was placed on life support - in all, her heart stopped beating three times and she was clinically dead, with no brain activity, for 17 hours.

Can brain death be misdiagnosed? ›

Brain death is often confused with other conditions that seem similar, such as coma and vegetative state.

No. A patient in a coma continues to have brain activity and function. When brain death occurs, all brain function ceases and there is no chance of recovery.

Thus some patients can regain awareness after more than four months in a vegetative state, and, although few reach full independence, most can achieve an improved quality of life within the limitations of their disabilities. The recovery period is prolonged and may continue for several years.

Comatose patients do not seem to hear or respond. Speaking may not affect their clinical outcome; time spent with them takes time away from other, more "viable" patients. Comatose patients may, however, hear; many have normal brain-stem auditory evoked responses and normal physiologic responses to auditory stimuli.

But without a ventilator to keep blood and oxygen moving, this beating would stop very quickly, usually in less than an hour, Greene-Chandos said. With just a ventilator, some biological processes — including kidney and gastric functions — can continue for about a week, Greene-Chandos said.

Your heart no longer beats, your breath stops and your brain stops functioning. Studies suggest that brain activity may continue several minutes after a person has been declared dead. Still, brain activity isn't the same as consciousness or awareness. It doesn't mean that a person is aware that they've died.

The digestive and respiratory systems begin to shut down during the gradual process of dying. A dying person no longer wants to eat as digestion slows, the digestive track loses moisture, and chewing, swallowing, and elimination become painful processes.

The body often finds alternate ways to generate energy during starvation and prolong life. However, in the absence of water, the body undergoes several changes and severe dehydration, and the kidneys may shut down.

Your brain cells start dying within minutes of low oxygen.