home Botany book The problem of clinical death. What is clinical death - signs, maximum duration and consequences for human health. What do those who experienced it remember?

The problem of clinical death. What is clinical death - signs, maximum duration and consequences for human health. What do those who experienced it remember?

When a person dies, this can be understood by several main signs: he falls into a coma, loses consciousness, stops responding to various stimuli, his reflexes fade, his pulse slows down, body temperature; there is apnea - respiratory arrest, asystole - cardiac arrest. As a result of a violation of oxygen metabolism in the body, hypoxia develops in various organs of the body, including the brain. In a few minutes, this can lead to irreversible changes in tissues. It is the irreversible stoppage of vital processes that is called biological death, but it does not occur immediately - it is preceded by clinical death.

At clinical death all deaths are observed, but hypoxia has not yet caused changes in the organs and brain, so successful resuscitation can bring a person back to life without sad consequences. Clinical death lasts only a few minutes, after which resuscitation is already useless. At low environment brain death, which is the main sign of biological death, comes later - after about fifteen minutes. The more time has passed since breathing and heart rate, the more difficult it is to bring a person back to life.

Clinical death can be determined by dilated pupils that do not respond to light, by the absence of movement chest and in the carotid artery. But if at the same time there are symptoms of biological death - "cat's eye" (when the eyeball is squeezed from the sides, the pupil becomes vertical and does not return to its original shape), clouding of the cornea, cadaveric spots - then resuscitation is pointless.

Interest in near death

Such a phenomenon as clinical death is of great interest not only among doctors and scientists working in the medical field, but also among ordinary people. This is due to the widespread belief that a person who has experienced such a condition has been in afterlife and can talk about their feelings. Usually such people describe movement through a tunnel, at the end of which light is visible, sensations of flight, a feeling of calmness - doctors call this "near-death experiences." But they still cannot explain them: scientists are baffled by the fact that the brain does not function during clinical death, and a person cannot feel anything. Most doctors explain this condition as hallucinations on early stage clinical death, when cerebral hypoxia had just begun.

The work of the brain determines the very existence and all the qualities of the human personality, so the death of the brain is the boundary separating being from non-being.

How does a person die?

Dying is not a one-time event, but a whole process during which all organs and systems stop functioning. The duration of this process depends on many factors: the initial level of health, ambient temperature, the severity of the injury, and hereditary factors. In practice, it is required to know exactly whether the death of the brain as an organ has occurred.

A brain-dead person can no longer be fully considered alive, although his heart, lungs and other organs may be healthy and function perfectly. The personality of such a half-corpse ceases to exist. At the same time, intact organs can be used for donation, saving several other lives. This is a complex legal and ethical issue in which everything should be crystal clear. Each person has relatives, and the issue of life and death is extremely important for them.

The concept of clinical and biological death

Death is considered clinical when a person can still be brought back to life. Moreover, the return must occur in full, with the preservation of all personal properties. Clinical death is a borderline form of existence between two worlds, when it is equally possible to move both in one direction and in the other.

Clinical death begins from the moment of respiratory arrest and heartbeat. The person no longer breathes and his heart does not beat, but the pathological processes have not yet become irreversible. The metabolic processes of destruction have not yet gone through, and revival without loss is possible. If within 5-6 minutes it is possible to restore vital functions, then the person simply wakes up, as if from a dream. But being left without help in a state of clinical death leads to true or biological death, when the body becomes an open ecosystem for the development of bacteria. The surrounding people have no more than 5 minutes to prevent the person from dying. At the same time, brain death stands out as a separate species because after this event a person can continue a vegetative life, but not a personal one.

Signs of brain death

Although the criteria for determining brain death have been studied sufficiently, after ascertaining this fact, a person is left under observation in the intensive care unit for at least 24 hours. At the same time, the maintenance of cardiac activity continues. Cases of returning to normal life after brain death are unknown, but the decision to disconnect from equipment for life support is too responsible, and haste is unacceptable here.

Accepted all over the world the following criteria brain death:

lack of consciousness and independent movements;
the absence of any reflexes, including such ancient ones as oculomotor and swallowing;
lack of spontaneous breathing, special tests with hyperventilation are performed to check;
isoline (zero axis) on the electroencephalogram;
additional signs in the form of a sharp decrease in muscle tone, lifting, and the like.

The presence of independent heartbeats is only confirmation that there are autonomic nerve nodes or pacemakers in the heart. However, the central regulation of the heart rate is lost, and blood circulation cannot be efficient. The heart rate usually fluctuates between 40-60 beats per minute, and this lasts for a very short time.

Is it possible to live without a brain?

Life and death are states that continuously follow each other. Complete brain death means the onset of a chronic vegetative state - one that is popularly called a "vegetable" or life on machines. Outwardly, a person may not change in any way, but everything that was human in him - thoughts, character, live speech, sympathy, knowledge and memory - are lost forever. In fact, the extension of the vegetative state depends on the voltage in the electrical network. As soon as the devices stop working, the vegetative existence of a person with a dead brain also ends.

The reason for the destruction of the brain is very important, without its clarification it is impossible to state death. It can be an injury, a hemorrhagic stroke, dropsy or deep cerebral edema, poisoning incompatible with life, and other unquestionable conditions. In all cases where there is even the slightest doubt about the cause of brain death, the person's condition is considered coma and continued resuscitation is required.

Does a coma always end in death?

No, this is how only the ultimate coma ends. Doctors distinguish 4 stages of coma, the last stage is beyond. In a state of coma, life and death balance on the verge, there is the possibility of recovery or deterioration.

Coma is a sharp depression of the functions of all parts of the brain, a desperate attempt to survive due to a change in metabolism. The cortex, subcortex and stem structures are involved in the development of coma.

There are a huge number of causes of coma: diabetes, severe kidney disease, dehydration and loss of electrolytes, cirrhosis of the liver, toxic goiter, intoxication with external poisons, deep oxygen starvation, overheating and other severe life disorders.

Doctors of antiquity called a coma a "sleep of the mind", because in a state of even a shallow and reversible coma, a person is inaccessible to contact, communication with him is impossible. Fortunately, modern medicine has many options for treating coma.

How is death declared?

In the Russian Federation, the declaration of death and the termination of resuscitation are regulated by Government Decree No. 950 of 09/20/2012. The Ordinance details all medical criteria. A council of 3 doctors with at least 5 years of work experience can declare death in a medical institution. No one from the council can be involved in organ transplantation. The presence of a neurologist and an anesthesiologist is mandatory.

Death occurring at home or in public place, say the ambulance staff. In all cases where death has occurred without witnesses, police officers are called to examine the body. In all disputable situations, when the cause of death is unknown, a forensic medical examination is performed. This is necessary to establish the category of death - violent or not. At the end of all actions, relatives are issued the main official document - a death certificate.

Can the day of death be delayed?

Scientists answer this question positively or negatively with approximately equal frequency. In numerous forecasts, the day of death is associated with a way of life, bad habits and type of food. In many religious currents, death is considered as a stage of transition to a new kind of existence of the soul without being burdened by the body shell.

Buddhism and Hinduism are inextricably linked with reincarnation or the incarnation of the soul in a new body. At the same time, the choice of a new body depends on what kind of life a person led in his earthly incarnation.

Christianity views the day of death as the beginning of spiritual life, the heavenly reward for righteousness. The presence of an afterlife spiritual life - better than earthly - fills the life of a believer with high meaning.

In practice, intuition plays an important role in avoiding mortal danger. It is intuition that explains the numerous cases of being late for planes and watercraft, which subsequently suffer fatal crashes. People know too little about their nature in order to be able to explain how and why they leave the death place seconds before the tragedy.

What are the types of death?

Doctors distinguish 3 types of non-violent death:

physiological or from old age;
pathological or from disease;
sudden or from sudden acute conditions.

Sudden death is one of the most tragic, when a person ceases to live in the midst of complete well-being. Most often, sudden cardiac arrest leads to such an end, which can occur in both an adult and a child.

The heart is a very complex organ; comparing it with a simple pump is incorrect. In addition to specially organized cells - cardiocytes that form cavities - it has an autonomic nervous system. All this is controlled by the brain and spinal cord, and also responds to hormones and electrolytes contained in the blood. Failure of any of the components can lead to an abrupt stop.

In fact, sudden cardiac arrest is the collapse of all life support systems. Blood ceases to carry oxygen and remove metabolic products, life simply stops.

Any person who happened to be nearby should start manually. The efforts of others can support life for up to half an hour. This time is enough for the arrival of doctors who will provide specialized assistance.

Cessation of the functioning of the brain - a separate type of death

Doctors consider brain death to be a separate diagnosis, fatal to a person. The fact is that it consists of two main sections: the hemispheres and the brain stem. The hemispheres are responsible for higher nerve functions: speech, thinking, memory, logic and emotions. The loss of these functions can be seen in people who have had a stroke: the lack of speech and tearfulness are the consequences of the destruction of the hemispheres by the outpouring of blood. It is possible to live with damaged hemispheres, and for quite a long time.

Unlike the hemispheres, the brain stem is a more ancient formation. It was formed when people did not yet know not only writing, but coherent speech. The brain stem controls vital functions such as breathing, heartbeat, and reflexes. Any, the most insignificant damage to the brain stem causes a state of clinical death. However, people survive precisely thanks to the brain stem. All its structures are the most resistant to external influences and are the last to be damaged.

So when does brain death occur?

When the brain stem dies. The brain does not die overnight either. There is general rule for the whole organism: what was formed later in the process of evolution dies first. This rule also applies to - younger formations - are more vulnerable in a moment of mortal danger. They die first from lack of oxygen. If the severity of the condition is too deep and ineffective, complete brain death occurs within minutes.

Have scientists revealed all the secrets?

Every day, at least one publication appears in specialized publications about new discoveries that accompany the process of dying. So, scientists argue that the time of brain death can be recorded on the EEG as a burst of electrical activity, characteristic of intensive learning processes. Other scientists characterize such activity as recording bioelectric waves from collapsing neurons. There is still no clear answer.

The words of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus that we will never meet with death can serve as a consolation to all living people: when we are, there is no death, and when it comes, then we are no more.

Every body needs a sufficient amount of oxygen, it comes from the circulatory and respiratory systems. If blood circulation stops, breathing is blocked, the person dies. We draw your attention to when the heart does not beat, breathing stops, the person does not die immediately. This transitional stage is called clinical death. Why does clinical death occur? Is it possible to help a person?

Causes of clinical death

It is important to understand that in this case a person can be saved, it takes a few minutes. Most often, clinical death occurs when the heart stops. As a rule, such a violation is provoked by cardiac pathologies, as well as blockage of blood clots.

The main causes of pathology include:

strong stress, physical activity- all this negatively affects the blood supply to the heart.
Blood loss due to injury, trauma.
A state of shock (most often, clinical death occurs in the case of anaphylactic shock after a severe allergic reaction).
Asphyxia, respiratory arrest.
Serious mechanical, thermal, electrical tissue damage.
as a result of exposure to a chemical, poisonous and toxic substance on the body.
Serious disease of the respiratory, cardiovascular system.
Violent death, in which serious injuries were inflicted, as well as aspiration of blood, fluid, embolism, spasm in the coronary vessels.

Main symptoms

The person loses consciousness after circulatory arrest (within a few seconds). Please note that blood circulation never stops if a person is conscious.
No pulse for 10 seconds. This is a rather dangerous sign, because it indicates a cessation of the blood supply to the brain. With untimely assistance, brain cells can die.
The person stops breathing.
Pupil dilation and no reaction to light. This sign indicates the cessation of blood supply in the nerve, which is responsible for motor activity eye.

The specialist can determine the first symptoms of clinical death already within a few seconds after the heart stops. In this case, it is important to provide first aid, to carry out all resuscitation measures, otherwise everything can end in serious consequences.

How does clinical death proceed?

First stage(lasts no more than 5 minutes). Some areas of the brain responsible for the vital activity of the body are in a normal state for some time. In this case, everything can end up with such consequences: a person will come to his senses or, conversely, the situation will worsen - all parts of the brain will die at once.

Second stage occurs when the degenerative process in the brain slows down. Most often, this stage is characteristic of a person who has become cold, has been under water for a long time, and also after an electric shock.

Features of clinical death in children

It is worth noting that there are a lot of different pathologies and factors that can lead to such a dangerous condition in a child:

Problems with respiratory system- pneumonia, inhalation a large number smoke, suffocation, drowning, blockage of the respiratory organs.
Cardiac pathologies - arrhythmia, heart disease, ischemia, sepsis.
Serious damage to the central nervous system- meningitis, hematomas, convulsions, intracranial trauma, malignant brain tumors.
poisoning, .

Despite the causes of clinical death, the child loses consciousness, falls into a coma, he has no respiratory movements, no pulse. Ascertain clinical death within 10 seconds. It is important to remember that the child's body is sensitive, so if you do not take action, everything can end in death.

How to distinguish clinical death from biological?

In the case of untimely assistance, everything ends with biological death. It comes because the brain is completely dying. The condition is irreversible, all resuscitation procedures are inappropriate.

As a rule, biological death occurs 6 minutes after clinical death. In some situations, the time of clinical death is significantly lengthened. It all depends on the ambient temperature. If it is low, metabolic processes slow down in the body, and oxygen starvation is much better tolerated.

The main signs of biological death include the following symptoms:

The pupil becomes cloudy, the shine in the cornea is lost.
There is a "cat's eye". When the eyeball contracts, it loses its normal shape.
The body temperature drops sharply.
Bluish spots appear on the body.
Muscles are tightened.

It has been proven that when attacked, the cerebral cortex dies first, after that spinal cord and subcortical region. And after 4 hours, the bone marrow, tendon, muscle, and skin stop functioning. During the day, the bones are destroyed.

What does the person feel?

The patient may have different visions, in some situations they do not exist at all. Many victims who had to endure clinical death said that they communicated with their close deceased relatives. Quite often, visions are quite real. In some visions, it seemed to the person that he was flying over his body. Other patients saw and remembered the appearance of doctors conducting resuscitation procedures.

So, medicine is still carefully studying the features of clinical death. You can save a person by providing first aid in the first seconds of clinical death. In this situation, the resuscitator can hit the heart area sharply, and an artificial type of ventilation is performed in the mouth or nose. Remember, you can save a person by taking timely action!

No such person was born on the planet who can calmly relate to death. Such thoughts cause fear in more than half of humanity. What is the reason for the fear? Illness, poverty, stress, difficulties do not frighten us, but why does death make us afraid, and why do the human stories of survivors make us shudder? Maybe the reason is that there are even a couple of lines about a serious illness, but we don’t know who to ask about life in the afterlife.

Past upbringing proves once again: after all, almost all the inhabitants of the planet are sure that life after death does not exist. There will be no more sunrises or sunsets, as well as meetings with loved ones and warm hugs. All important feelings will disappear: hearing, sight, touch, smell, etc. What happens after death and whether the stories of people who have experienced clinical death are true, this article will help to understand.

What is our body made of?

Everyone has physical body and incorporeal soul. Scientists and esotericists have discovered such a factor that a person has several bodies. In addition to the physical, there are subtle bodies, which, in turn, are divided into:

Essential.
Astral.
mental.

Any of these bodies has an energy field, which, when combined with subtle bodies, form an aura or, as it is also called, a biofield. As for the physical body, it can be touched and seen. This is our main body, which is given to us at birth for a certain period of time.

Etheric, astral and mental body

The so-called double of the physical body has no color (invisible) and is called ethereal. It exactly repeats the entire shape of the main body, moreover, it has the same energy field. After the death of a person, it is finally destroyed after 3 days. For this reason, the funeral process does not begin earlier than 3 days after the death of the body.

"The body of emotions", it is also astral. The experiences and emotional state of a person can change personal radiation. During sleep, it is able to disconnect, which is why, waking up, we can remember a dream, which is only a journey of the soul while the physical body rests in the bed.

The mental body is responsible for thoughts. Abstract thinking and contact with the cosmos distinguishes this body. The soul exits the main body and separates at the time of death, rapidly heading towards the higher world.

Return from that world

Practically for everyone, the stories of people who have experienced clinical death cause shock.

Someone believes in such luck, while others are skeptical in principle about this kind of death. And yet, what can happen in 5 minutes at the time of rescue by resuscitators? Is there really an afterlife afterworld Or is it just a brain fantasy?

In the 70s of the last century, scientists carefully began to study this factor, on the basis of which the book “Life after Life” by Raymond Moody was published. This is an American psychologist who has made many discoveries over the decades. The psychologist believed that for the sensation of out-of-body existence, such stages are inherent as:

Disabling the physiological processes of the body (it has been established that the dying person hears the words of a doctor who declares death).
Unpleasant noisy sounds with increasing intensity.
The dying person leaves the body and moves with incredible speed along long tunnel where the light is visible at the end.
His whole life flies before him.
There is a meeting with relatives and friends who have already left the living world.

The stories of people who have experienced clinical death notice an unusual split in consciousness: it seems like you understand everything and realize what is happening around you during “death”, but for some reason you cannot contact living people who are nearby. Surprising is also the fact that even the blind from birth sees bright light in a lethal state.

Our brain remembers everything

Our brain remembers the whole process at the moment when clinical death occurs. The stories of people and the research of scientists have found explanations for unusual visions.

Fantastic explanation

Pyall Watson is a psychologist who believes that in the last minutes of a dying person's life, his birth is seen. Acquaintance with death, as Watson said, begins with a terrible path that everyone must overcome. This is a 10 cm birth canal.

“It is not in our power to know exactly what is happening in the creation of a baby at the time of birth, but perhaps all these sensations are similar to the different phases of dying. After all, it may be that the dying pictures that pop up in front of the dying person are precisely the experiences in the process of birth, ”says psychologist Pyell Watson.

Utilitarian explanation

Nikolai Gubin, a resuscitator from Russia, is of the opinion that the appearance of the tunnel is a toxic psychosis.

This is a dream that is similar to hallucinations (for example, when a person sees himself from the outside). In the process of dying, the visual lobes of the cerebral hemisphere have already undergone oxygen starvation. Vision narrows rapidly, leaving a thin band that provides central vision.

For what reason does the whole life flash before one's eyes when clinical death occurs? The stories of survivors cannot give a clear answer, but Gubin has his own interpretation. The stage of dying begins with new parts of the brain, and ends with the old ones. The restoration of important brain functions occurs the other way around: first the old areas come to life, and then the new ones. That is why in the memories of people who returned from the afterlife, more imprinted fragments are reflected.

The secret of the dark and light world

"Another world exists!" medical experts say in amazement. The revelations of people who have experienced clinical death have even detailed coincidences.

Priests and doctors who had the opportunity to communicate with patients who returned from another world recorded the fact that all these people have common property shower. Upon arrival from heaven, some returned more enlightened and calm, while others, returning from hell, for a long time could not calm down from the nightmare they had seen.

After listening to the stories of survivors of clinical death, we can conclude that heaven is above, hell is below. This is exactly what is written in the Bible about the afterlife. Patients describe their feelings as follows: those who went down met hell, and those who flew up went to heaven.

Word of mouth

Many people were able to survive and understand what clinical death consists of. Survivor stories belong to people all over the planet. For example, Thomas Welch was able to survive after a disaster at a sawmill. Subsequently, he said that on the shore of the burning abyss he saw some people who had died earlier. He began to regret that he cared so little about salvation. Knowing in advance all the horrors of hell, he would have lived differently. At that moment, the man saw a man walking in the distance. The unfamiliar face was light and bright, radiating kindness and mighty strength. It became clear to Welch that it was the Lord. Only in his power is the salvation of people, only he can take the doomed soul to torment. Suddenly he turned and looked at our hero. That was enough to bring Thomas back to his body and his mind to come to life.

When the heart stops

In April 1933, Pastor Kenneth Hagin was consumed by clinical death. The stories of near-death survivors are very similar, which is why scientists and doctors consider these to be real events. Hagin's heart stopped. He said that when the soul left the body and reached the abyss, he felt the presence of a spirit that led him somewhere. Suddenly, a powerful voice sounded in the darkness. The man could not understand what was said, but it was the voice of God, in the latter he was sure. At that moment, the spirit released the pastor, and a strong whirlwind began to lift him back up. The light slowly began to appear, and Kenneth Hagin found himself in his room, jumping into the body the way one usually climbs into trousers.

in heaven

Paradise is described as the opposite of hell. The stories of survivors of clinical death are never left without attention.

One of the scientists at the age of 5 fell into a pool filled with water. The child was found dead. The parents took the baby to the hospital, but the doctor had to say that the boy would not open his eyes again. But the greater surprise was that the child woke up and came to life.

The scientist said that when he was in the water, he felt a flight through a long tunnel, at the end of which he could see the light. This glow was incredibly bright. There, the Lord was on the throne, and there were people below (perhaps they were angels). Having got closer to the Lord God, the boy heard that the time had not yet come. The child wanted to stay there for a moment, but in some incomprehensible way he ended up in his body.

About Light

Six-year-old Sveta Molotkova also saw reverse side life. After the doctors brought her out of the coma, a request was received, which consisted of a pencil and paper. Svetlana drew everything that she could see at the moment of the soul's displacement. The girl was in a coma for 3 days. Doctors fought for her life, but her brain showed no signs of life. Her mother could not look at the lifeless and motionless body of her child. At the end of the third day, the girl seemed to be trying to grab onto something, her fists clenched tightly. The mother felt that her little girl was finally clinging to the thread of life. Having recovered a little, Sveta asked the doctors to bring her paper with a pencil in order to draw everything that she could see in another world ...

Soldier's story

One military doctor treated a patient for a fever in various ways. The soldier was unconscious for some time, and when he woke up, he informed his doctor that he had seen a very bright glow. For a moment it seemed to him that he was in the "Kingdom of the Blessed". The military remembered the sensations and noted that it was the best moment of his life.

Thanks to medicine that keeps pace with all technologies, it became possible to survive, despite circumstances such as clinical death. Eyewitness stories about life after death scare some, while others are interested.

Private from America George Ritchie in the 43rd year of the last century was declared dead. The doctor on duty that day, a hospital officer, determined the death, which occurred because the Soldier had already been prepared to be sent to the morgue. But suddenly the military orderly told the doctor how he saw the movement of the dead man. Then the doctor looked at Ritchie again, but could not confirm the orderly's words. In response, he resisted and insisted on his own.

The doctor realized that it was useless to argue and decided to inject adrenaline directly into the heart. Unexpectedly for everyone, the dead man began to show signs of life, and then doubts disappeared. It became clear that he would survive.

The story of a soldier who survived clinical death has spread all over the world. Private Ritchie was not only able to cheat death itself, but also became a doctor, telling his colleagues about his unforgettable journey.

Clinical death itself is not as dangerous as the state of the body after it. Only in the films are “heavy” patients discharged home completely healthy. In the real world, everything is exactly the opposite, and only 15% of the lucky ones do without tragic ones for themselves.

What dangers to life are fraught with "resurrection"? According to the statistics of American resuscitators, for example, circulatory arrest as a result of myocardial infarction implies that the chances of saving a patient vary between 20-45%. In turn, 18-6% of patients are discharged from the hospital, and after that even fewer of them get home: only 5-2%. The rest are sent to special care institutions.

These numbers are amazing. What exactly happens to the human body after? What leads to such disastrous results?

It turns out that in the medical environment there is such a thing as "post-resuscitation disease." Based on those described by Negovsky V.A. observations, more than half of the patients died one and a half to two months after the miraculous "revival". On the very first day, people who survived the near-death experience (26% of patients) died from pulmonary and cerebral edema, as well as from repeated cardiac arrest. On the second day, a third of the patients developed pulmonary, renal or hepatic insufficiency, which, again, took them to the next world. Even later, various inflammatory processes formed, which caused the final biological death of 80% of people.

However, this statistic should not be taken seriously. Still, Negovsky's research was carried out in 1987, and since then medicine in general, and resuscitation, in particular, have stepped forward. The constant improvement of equipment for artificial life support in our time allows us to hope for much better results.

More worrying - both for the patients themselves and their relatives - is mental illness, which manifests itself 3-5 months after clinical death and discharge from the hospital, respectively. Depending on the time of brain inactivity in the process of critical loss of vital activity, the number of future patients in neuropsychiatric dispensaries ranges from 60-70%. Only a third of patients fully recover.

Of the deviations of the psyche, the following are observed: suspiciousness, accompanied by irritable weakness, neurasthenia, anxiety, memory loss, deterioration of thought processes, neurocircular dystonia syndrome (symptoms: sweating, migraines, palpitations, trembling fingers).

Doctors say that the result of oxygen starvation of the brain may well be repeated. But even if it does not come to such a deplorable result, it can lead to violations of sensitivity and movement. Often, due to damage to the cerebral cortex, patients lose the ability to move independently, communicate, self-service. In these situations, only 1% of patients survive for more than a year.