Death and Body Functions
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Most people accept that when the heart stops beating, a person dies. In the general sense, this is true, although with today's resuscitation techniques, the heart can be restarted if treatment is given quickly. The reason people die when the heart stops beating and is not resuscitated within a few minutes is that to stay alive, all tissues in the body require oxygen. When we inspire (breathe in), the lungs fill with air, and the oxygen, which is at a greater concentration in the air than in the blood circulating in the capillaries in the lungs, crosses the thin membranes of the lung tissue and the fine capillaries and enters the bloodstream. Erythrocytes (red blood cells) in the bloodstream contain a pigment called hemoglobin, which binds oxygen, and this pigment allows the erythrocytes to transport it to the tissues. When the oxygen-rich blood reaches the tissues and encounters an area where the oxygen concentration is less than it is in the blood, oxygen is released by hemoglobin and diffuses out of the fine capillaries into the tissues and enters the cells, where it is used in metabolic processes. Carbon dioxide diffuses out of the cells and into the bloodstream, where it is at a lower concentration and is taken back to the lungs, where it is exchanged for oxygen.The heart is a muscular organ responsible for circulating blood around the body. It is divided into four chambers. Oxygen rich blood from the lungs flows into the left atrium through the pulmonary veins,
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), a measure of heart function, usually becomes flat at the time of death, but not always, so the EEG and EKG are not totally definitive for death, meaning that the point at which somatic death progresses to molecular death is not always clear.
Indisputable signs of molecular, and thus irreversible, death are purpuric death spots resulting from hypostasis, which can occur within half an hour of death; the onset of muscle stiffness after three hours, leading to rigor mortis; and a decrease in body temperature, which may not be obvious for 8 hours after death (Charlton, 1996).
Since all body functions are ultimately directed by the brain, whether or not death occurs when the heart stops will depend on the length of time it is stopped. If the heart can be resuscitated, life can continue. When the brain is deprived of oxygen, damage begins rapidly (Krieger, 1998). The development of neurological signs from cerebral anoxia (oxygen deprivation) depend on the duration and severity of the interruption to the blood flow, not on its cause. Complete cerebral circulation arrest and oxygen deprivation cause unconsciousness within seconds (Krieger, 1998). In short-lived anoxia, such as from syncope (fainting), tissue oxygenation is r
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Beers Fletcher, Kendall Trigt, United Kingdom, , EEG EKG, Ackerman Grenvik, S-100 Krieger, December Evolved, brain stem, brain death, Inc Bernat, charlton 1996, heart stops, bernat 1998, Center Report, brain dead, heart stops beating, krieger 1998, pulmonary vascular, diagnosis death, circulation stops, pulmonary vascular resistance, subserved brain stem, bittner chen kendall, ackerman grenvik 1996,
Approximate Word count = 2573
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)
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