When Death Has Come For Your Body

Death is definitely something all of us will encounter at some point and time. The two common things that all of us share is being born and dying. We all know that our day will eventually come, but it's something that is rarely talked about. If we talked about death all of the time it would be hard to actually live a life. Death is never easy for anyone and for most of us it's our biggest fear to die or to lose a loved one. So many times we question "Why?". Some will say that they trust into their religions as to why death happens and others will say that scientifically, it is the human cycle. Ultimately, death is life's ending and it's part of us.

Yes, actually there is really only one reason our body ultimately dies. That one way is oxygen starvation (Hypoxia) and it means that your body is starved of oxygen or absence of oxygen. By this I do not mean the case or manner of death. I am referring to how your body dies. Our bodies are made up of so many things that depend on oxygen, so without it, your life can not continue. Take for example, someone who broke their femur, (The largest bone in your body located in your thigh) without medical attention they would lose most of the blood (exsanguination) in the body but death would not ultimately happen until the that person stopped breathing and oxygen stopped being deliver through out the body.

What is a cause of death? A cause of death is what caused the death of that person and is medically found or determined based on evidence and opinion. Many times the cause of death evidence is based on the autopsy.

Cardiovascular Diseases - These are diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels.

Digestive Diseases -These diseases all pertain to the gastrointestinal track.

Diseases of the Genitourinary System - The parts of the body that play a role in reproduction, getting rid of waste products in the form of urine, or both

Infectious & Parasitic Diseases - Infectious diseases are infectious pathogens that cause illness. A Parasitic disease is an infectious disease caused or transmitted by a parasite

Intentional Injuries - Injuries that are done on purpose.

Malignant Neoplasms (Cancer) - A range of diseases in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and can invade and destroy normal body tissue.

Neuropsychiatric Disorders - Disorders of the nervous system.

Nutritional Deficiencies - Diseases that are directly or indirectly caused by a lack of essential nutrients in the diet.

Respiratory Diseases - Diseases of the respiratory system

Unintentional Injuries - Injuries that were an accident.

A manner of death is something that is used to determine way someone has died. It is legally found or observed based on evidence and opinion.

Natural - A death that results from a natural disease process.

Accident - Death caused by an accident rather than by natural causes, suicide, or murder.

Suicide - The act of a human being intentionally causing his or her own death.

Homicide - A human killing another human.

Undetermined ( or "Could not be determined") - The manner could not be determined.

There are many instances in where a person is sick with cancer or a disease that is incurable and the body goes through stages of dying. Since we are so different as people, the stages are only guidelines to the process. These guidelines are in order as they may happen which may occur over a period of days, weeks, or months.

• Sudden decline in health.
• They may have a loss of appetite.
• Changes in skin. (example is cold and moist)
• Changes in blood pressure.
• Over come by emotions (anger, sadness, or happiness)
• Digestion and elimanation problems (going to the bathroom frequently or not at all)
• Hallucinations
• Breathing problems (This WILL happen, the breathing becomes labored and eventually stops)

You may also hear what is called 'The Death Rattle'. The death rattle sounds like someone is gurgling or making a rattling sound in their throat. This happens because the reflex in the throat no longer works so the saliva from the mouth pools in the throat while oxygen is trying to be exchanged. It may even sound as if the person is choking to death. Death is usually seconds to minutes away after this is heard.

Thanks to medical and scientific studies, we know what happens to the body as it dies. I am talking about the last minutes your body is alive. Since the body is delivering less oxygen throughout itself, organs will become weak and will stop functioning. This process will continue until the final breath is taken. Then the heart stops which means there is no more blood circulating through the body. Without the flow of blood you will stop breathing and without the oxygen the cells die off, leading to the end stage of dying.

Many different things happen to your body after death. The first thing that happens when a body dies is that the body temperature begins to drop. After the heart stops beating, blood is no longer pumped through the body. The capillaries begin to drain from the upper parts of the body and settle in the lower portions of the body. So, if a body is lying the floor, the front of the body will be pale, while the back portion will turn a dark red color. In a living being, cells function both aerobically and anaerobically. When death occurs, the cells of the body stops aerobic respiration, which is the function that allows them to work with oxygen. The cells now only function anaerobically, meaning they are only functioning without oxygen. This is how rigor mortis sets in. When muscles cells have no choice but to work anaerobically, they produce lactic acid. This lactic acid and myosin fuse together to form a gel, which is responsible for the stiffness found with rigor mortis. Depending on several variables, such as the weather and body activity before death, rigor mortis will usually set in between 15 minutes to a couple of hours. The most it will take for rigor mortis to set in is between 12-24 hours. The facial muscles are affected first, with other parts of the body soon to follow. Rigor mortis will disappear after 26-48 hours. As cells eventually die, the body loses it’s ability to fight off bacteria. This is when the process of decomposition sets in. Internal organisms become very active and begin to attack the digestive system. Gases are created and the intestines explode. This leads to the relentless attack of other systems in the body, which will decompose at different times after death. Spontaneous movement from a body is not unheard of. In fact since there are so many things happening to the body once it has died, a leg or am arm may move. This is not due to life in the body but due to years of life coming to an end.

Upon hearing or seeing that someone close to you has passed away, you will go through 5 stages of grief. Not everybody will experience all of them but to know what they are may help in knowing that it is OK to feel these ways.

The five stages of grief are:

1. Denial - "this can't be happening to me". Not accepting or even acknowledging the loss.

2. Anger- "why me?". Anger at the deceased, blaming them for leaving.

3. Bargaining - Attempting to make deals with God to stop or change the loss. Begging, wishing, praying for them to come back.

4. Depression - Overwhelming feelings of hopelessness, frustration, bitterness, self pity, mourning loss of person as well as the hopes, dreams and plans for the future. Feeling lack of control, feeling numb. Perhaps feeling suicidal.

5. Acceptance - Realization that the person is gone (in death) that it is not their fault, they didn't leave you on purpose. (even in cases of suicide, often the deceased person, was not in their right frame of mind) Finding the good that can come out of the pain of loss, finding comfort and healing. To feel pain after loss is normal. It proves that we are alive, human. But we can't stop living. We have to become stronger, while not shutting off our feelings for the hope of one day being healed and finding love and/or happiness again.

Now even though these are the stages of grief and we use it to identify it with the loss of a loved one, people go through these stages with any kind of loss like divorce, a friend moving away, etc.

The five stages of decomposition are:

• Initial Decay – The body appears to had died very recently, however internally the decomposition has already begun.
  
• Putrefaction – The body swells from internal gases, smells of decaying flesh, and the body color starts to change.
• Black Putrefaction – The body cavity ruptures. The Flesh starts to turn black with a creamy consistency. The Odor of decaying flesh is very strongly smelled by now.
  
• Butyric Fermentation – The body starts to dry out. A cheese like odor develops and mold appears on the body.
• Dry Decay – The body is just about dry and now the rate of decay slows down.

The rate and manner of decomposition is strongly affected by a number of factors. In roughly descending degrees of importance, they are:

• Temperature
• The availability of oxygen
• Prior embalming
• Cause of death
• Burial, and depth of burial
• Access by scavengers
• Trauma, including wounds and crushing blows
• Humidity, or wetness
• Rainfall
• Body size and weight
• Clothing
• The surface on which the body rests
• Foods/objects inside the specimen’s digestive tract

Well I hope that you were able to learn a few things about death, how to cope with it, and the classifications. I am very intrigued by my fears and like to submerse myself in facts about them. Since I am intrigued by death, I plan on one day working side by side with a medical examiner or coroner as an autopsy technician. Please find the good in knowing about death even though it is a scary and sad thing,