Brain death is a
legal definition of death
. It is the complete stopping of all brain function and cannot be reversed. It means that, because of extreme and serious trauma or injury to the brain, the body’s blood supply to the brain is blocked, and the brain dies. Brain death is death.
Is brain death clinical death?
A patient properly determined to be brain dead is legally and clinically dead. The
diagnosis of brain death is primarily clinical
. No other tests are required if the full clinical examination, including an assessment of brain stem reflexes and an apnea test, is conclusively performed.
What is the difference between brain death and death?
The most common and accepted form of death is cardiac death—the absence of the heart contracting and pumping blood due to a disturbance in its electrical activity. A less common type of death is brain death—the
irreversible absence of all brain activity
.
Has anyone come back from brain death?
However no one can recover from brain death
. If the clinician has any doubt as to whether there can be even minimal recovery, brain death is not declared. A determination of brain death means that the patient has died; brain death is irreversible.
Can a brain dead person be revived?
Brain death results from swelling in the brain; blood flow in the brain ceases and without blood to oxygenate the cells, the tissue dies. It
is irreversible
. Once brain tissue dies, there is nothing that can be done to heal it.
Do brain dead patients feel pain?
Does an individual feel any pain or suffer after brain death is declared? No.
When someone is dead, there is no feeling of pain or suffering
.
How long can a brain dead person live off life support?
Today, with ventilators, blood-pressure augmentation and hormones, the body of a brain-dead person could, in theory, be kept functioning for a long time,
perhaps indefinitely
, Greene-Chandos said.
What is the longest time a brain dead person has been on life support?
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.
What is brain dead vs coma?
Brain death: Irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem. A person who is
brain dead is dead
, with no chance of revival. Coma: A state of profound unresponsiveness as a result of severe illness or brain injury.
Can you be brain dead and still breathe?
In brain death, a mechanical ventilator or “breathing machine” breathes for the patient. When the breathing machine is turned off,
a patient who is brain dead will not breathe
.
Does no brain activity mean brain death?
Doctors examining the patient will conduct a battery of tests to determine whether any brain activity is present.
If all brain activity is absent, the patient is dead
.
When someone is brain dead Where is their soul?
In brain dead cases, the spirit or soul is
usually out of the body
, though often the brain dead person’s spirit stays with the body until life support is switched off.
How do you test for brain death?
Brain death can be assessed by
physical examination, the apnea test, and ancillary tests
. This includes the response to pain and assessment of brain stem reflexes. Loss of response to central pain occurs in brain death.
Does a person have to be brain dead to donate organs?
Traditional organ donation requires a person to be in a hospital and
on a ventilator when they are pronounced brain dead
. If a person experiences cardiac death, which means the heart has stopped and will not work again, they will be evaluated for tissue and cornea donation.
Should a brain dead person be kept alive?
Here is the issue in its simplest form: if you are
brain dead, you cannot be “alive on life support
.” It is true that your organs may be kept viable through mechanical ventilation and other means, but a person with no functioning brain activity is as dead as dead is. They cannot be ‘brought back to life.
How can a brain dead person still breathe after taking off ventilators?
The heart continues to beat while the ventilator delivers oxygen to the lungs (the heart can initiate its own beating without nerve impulses from the brain) but, despite the beating heart and warm skin, the person is dead. Since
the brain has stopped working, the person won’t breathe if the ventilator is switched off
.
