- For other uses, see Death (disambiguation).
In Western culture, skeletons are often the symbol of death.
Death is either the cessation of life in a living organism or the state of the organism after that event. In almost all societies, death has one or several symbols associated with it. Common symbols of death in Western cultures include the grim reaper and the color black; conversely, in certain Eastern cultures, the color white is considered symbolic of death. The grave is a metonym for death.
Biologically, death can occur to wholes, to parts of wholes, or to both. For example, it is possible for individual cells and even organs to die, and yet for the organism as a whole to continue to live; many individual cells can live for only a short time, and so most of an organism's cells are continually dying and being replaced by new ones.
Conversely, it is also possible for the organism to die and for cells and organs to live and to be used for transplantation. In the latter case, though, the still-living tissues must be removed and transplanted quickly or they too will soon die without the support of their host. Rarely, cell cultures can be immortal as in the case of Henrietta Lacks' HeLa cell line.
Irreversibility is often cited as a key feature of death. By definition, a dead organism cannot be brought back to life; if it were to be, that would indicate that it had never been dead. Nonetheless, many people do not believe that death is necessarily irreversible; thus some have a religious belief in bodily or spiritual resurrection, while others have hope for the eventual prospects of cryonics or other technological means of reversing death.
It has been hypothesized that a limited lifespan is a consequence of evolution not selecting for extreme longevity in most species, as evolutionary selection only need apply to the organism up to the point of reproduction; after that, except for caring for kin, the continued existence of an individual can have little effect on the survival of its gene line. A common assumption is that the Second Law of Thermodynamics dictates that all complex systems must eventually deteriorate, so it is not likely that any species could ever be immortal. However, this aspect of the Second Law of Thermodynamics only applies to closed systems, which a living organism obviously is not.
- Warning: Some of the images in this article are graphic in nature.
Human death: definitions and significance
By far the most important sort of death to human beings is human death. Thinking about human death raises a number of questions, but not many satisfactory answers.
First, how can we identify the exact moment at which death has occurred? This seems important, because identifying that moment would allow us to put the correct time on death certificates, make sure that the deceased's will is enacted only after the deceased is truly deceased, and, in general, guide us in emotional behavior regarding death. In particular, identifying the moment of death is important in cases of transplantation, as organs must be harvested as quickly as possible after death.
Historically, attempts to define the exact moment of death have been problematic. Death was once defined as the cessation of heartbeat (cardiac arrest) and of breathing, for example, but the development of CPR and early defibrillation posed a challenge: either the definition of death was incorrect, or techniques had been discovered that really allowed one to reverse death (because, in some cases, breathing and heartbeat can be restarted). Generally, the first option was chosen. (Today this definition of death is known as "clinical death".)
Today, where a definition of the moment of death is required, we usually turn to "brain death" or "biological death": people are considered dead when the electrical activity in their brain ceases (cf. persistent vegetative state). It is presumed that a stoppage of electrical activity indicates the end of consciousness.
Brain activity is a necessary condition to legal personhood, and, perhaps with the exception of the fetus, it is a sufficient condition for legal personhood. "It appears that once brain death has been determined … no criminal or civil liability will result from disconnecting the life-support devices." Dority v. Superior Court of San Bernardino County, 193 Cal.Rptr. 288, 291 (1983)
However, those maintaining that only the neo-cortex of the brain is necessary for consciousness sometimes argue that only electrical activity there should be considered when defining death. In most places the more conservative definition of death (cessation of electrical activity in the whole brain, as opposed to just in the neo-cortex) has been adopted (for example the Uniform Determination Of Death Act in the United States). The recent case of Terri Schiavo brought the question of brain-death and artificial sustainment to the front of American politics. However, in all cases the common cause of death is anoxia.
Even in these cases, the determination of death can be difficult. EEGs can detect spurious electrical impulses when none exists, while there have been cases in which electrical activity in a living brain has been too low for EEGs to detect. Because of this, hospitals often have elaborate protocols for determining death involving EEGs at widely separated intervals.
Medical history contains many anecdotal references to people being declared dead by physicians and coming back to life, sometimes days later in their own coffin or when embalming procedures are about to get underway. Stories of people actually being buried alive (which must assume embalming has not occurred) led at least one inventor in the early 20th century to design an alarm system that could be activated from within the coffin.
Because of the difficulties in determining death, under most emergency protocols, a first responder is not authorized to pronounce a patient dead; some EMT training manuals, for example, specifically state that a person is not to be assumed dead unless there are clear and obvious indications that death has occurred, such as mortal decapitation, rigor mortis (the stiffening of the body), dependent lividity (blood pooling in the lowest part of the body), decomposition, or incineration. If there is any possibility of life and in the absence of a do not resuscitate order, emergency workers must begin rescue and not end it until a patient has been brought to a hospital to be examined by a physician. This frequently leads to situation of a patient being pronounced dead on arrival.
It is also possible that death does not occur at a particular moment, but unfolds as a process over a period of time. Under this definition, the term "exact moment of death" loses meaning.
Cause of death in the United States
The cause of death in certain area and certain group of ages are different according to area and each group. In 2002 in U.S. the top 10 causes of death in medicine are:
- Heart Disease: 696,947
- Cancer: 557,271
- Stroke: 162,672
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 124,816
- Accidents (unintentional injuries): 106,742
- Diabetes: 73,249
- Influenza/Pneumonia: 65,681
- Alzheimer's disease: 58,866
- Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 40,974
- Septicemia: 33,865
- (There were also 16,110 people murdered)
- (There were also 1,293,000 deliberate abortions.
It should be noted that there is much debate as to when a fetus is declared a "human". The death of a human zygote - a one-celled combination of a sperm and an egg - is counted by some as the death of a human, and by others as simply the death of a cell.)
Statistical data from: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services National Right To Life Planned Parenthood
What happens to humans after death?
The second question is of what, apart from the cessation of metabolism and the onset of physiological processes of decay, happens, especially to humans, during and after death (or "once dead", thinking of death as a permanent state). In particular, there is the question of what becomes of consciousness or the soul. Such questions are of long standing, and belief in an afterlife (such as an underworld), or in reincarnation, are common and ancient. The rational belief that any and all consciousness ceases to exist at death, and that death ("after-life") itself is ultimately the exact same experience as prior to conception ("before life"), is common among atheist/agnostic thinkers. Conversely, religious belief in and information about an afterlife is a consolation in connection with the death of a beloved one or the prospect of one's own death. On the other hand, fear of hell or other negative consequences may make death worse. Human contemplation about death is an important motivation for the development of organized religion.
Traditions exist across most cultures to mourn the death of loved ones. Many archaeologists feel that the careful burials among Homo neanderthalensis, where ochre ornamented bodies were laid in carefully dug graves, is evidence of ritualised burial. This may indicate early religious belief which, furthermore, might include a concept of an afterlife.
Physiological consequences of human death
For the human body, the physiological consequences of death follow a recognized sequence through early changes into bloating, then decay to changes after decay and finally skeletal remains.
The changes in the immediate post-death stage have received the most attention for two reasons—firstly it is the stage mostly likely to be seen by the living and secondly because of the research of forensics in potential crimes.
Body at forensic detective building that shows an advanced stage of decomposition
Soon after death (15–120 minutes depending on various factors), the body begins to cool (algor mortis), becomes pallid (pallor mortis), and internal sphincter muscles relax, leading to the release of urine, feces, and stomach contents if the body is moved. The blood moves to pool in the lowest parts of the body, livor mortis (dependent lividity), within 30 minutes and then begins to coagulate. The body experiences muscle stiffening (rigor mortis) which peaks at around 12 hours after death and is gone in another 24, depending on temperature. Within a day, the body starts to show signs of decomposition (decay), both autolytic changes and from 'attacking' organisms—bacteria, fungi, insects, mammalian scavengers, etc. Internally, the body structures begin to collapse, the skin loses integration with the underlying tissues, and bacterial action creates gases which cause bloating and swelling. The rate of decay is enormously variable; a body can be reduced to skeletal remains in days, or remain largely intact for thousands of years.
In most cultures, before the onset of significant decay, the body undergoes ritual disposal, usually either cremated or deposited in a tomb, often a hole in the earth called a grave, but also in a sarcophagus, a crypt, sepulchre, or ossuary, a mound or barrow, or endlessly monumental surface structures, a mausoleum such as the Taj Mahal. In Tibet, one method of corpse disposal is sky burial, which involves placing the body of the deceased in a high ground (mountain) and dispose it ritually — especially to birds of prey. This is because in religious views, birds of prey are carriers of soul to heaven. In certain cultures efforts are made to retard the decay processes before burial, mummification or embalming. This happens during or after a funeral ceremony. Many funeral customs exist in different cultures.
A new alternative is "ecological burial". This involves subsequently deep-freezing, pulverisation by vibration, freeze-drying, removing metals, and burying the resulting powder, which has 30% of the body mass.
Graves are usually grouped together in a plot of land called a cemetery or "graveyard" and can arranged by a funeral home or undertaker or by a church.
Personification of death
Main article: Death (personification)
Death is also a mythological figure who has existed in popular culture since the earliest days of storytelling. The traditional Western image of Death, known as the Grim Reaper, is employed on a tarot card and in various television shows and films. Some examples:
See also
External links
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