Is There A Heartbeat?

Irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem is dead (delimiting).” “They struggle with here of the laws phrases; “irreversible,” “all functions,” and entire brain,” knowing that they cannot guarantee for compliance (delimiting).” “Unfortunately, physicians know that when they declare that someone on life support is dead, they are usually obeying the spirit, but not the letter of this law (delimiting).” “Called into the doctor’s office eighteen hours after the accident, Craig was told Sandrine was “brain dead” the term used when brain function is deemed to have ceased totally and irreversibly (when does life end).” “As she lay beside Sandrine listening to her breathing and her heart beating, she thought “we can’t bury a beating heart and breathing lungs”(when does life end).” If she’s brain dead, why do they have to put her to sleep she wondered (when does life end).” “In some cases the “brain is not completely dead,” If it were there would be no blood pressure or heartbeat (when does life end).” Post-mortem observations that relatively areas of tissues can be metabolically active in different brain areas at the time death are declared (delimiting).” “Physicians who have been required by circumstance to wait much longer have occasionally observed a brainstem- mediated reflex- a cough, for example- up to thirty-six hours after they would have declared death (delimiting).” “Blood chemistry undermines a claim that all functions of the

Today, medical interventions have made it possible to save or prolong lives, but should the process of dying be left to nature? (Brogden, 2001). Phrases such as, “killing is always considered murder,” and “while life is present, so is hope” are not enough to contract with the present medical knowledge in the Canadian health care system, which is proficient of giving injured patients a chance to live, which in the past would not have been possible (Brogden, 2001). According to Brogden, a number of economic and ethical questions arise concerning the increasing elderly population. This is the reason why the Canadian society ought to endeavor to come to a decision on what is right and ethical when it comes to facing death.

.“As medical technology continues to advance and health care choices become more complicated, the preservation of end-of-life autonomy is an increasingly important issue faced by various client populations.” (Galambos, 1998).

They are there day in and day out and develop special relationships. They might not agree with the decision to end one’s life, based on religious aspects, but they still have to go through with the decision (Gielen et al, 2009). This also brings into question about the ethical dilemma faced by physicians to preserve life. Likewise, this ideology is published in numerous medicine journals across the world. More specifically, this quandary is outlined in the QJM: An international Journal of Medicine. Within this journal, it poses these very questions. Should the patient’s decision to end their life override the doctor’s moral and ethical duty to preserve life? “I believe there are practical as well as legal and moral reasons to adhere to the ancient Hippocratic dictum: when efficacious treatment is possible, the physician's duty is to the patient, and to no one else—not to the family, nor the community—to prevent suffering and preserve life for as long as you can” (Epstien,

Very often, deliberate decisions are made which results in the end of a life. For example, a person could be kept on life support, but instead, a family member or other significant person might choose to switch off the life support machine resulting in the official death of a patient. There is also the case that resuscitation of a patient may eventually prove to be trivial and a doctor might suggest just making the patient as comfortable as possible until their eventual passing. In the above situations, a medical professional’s decisions would not be questioned or doubted. It is conventional practice (Warnock and MacDonald 2008).

Letting Go by Atul Gawande provides an intriguing perspective on people’s stubborn expectations from the healthcare system. What should medicine do when it can’t save your life? Most everyone seems to believe they should fight to the bitter end, until they can’t possibly have anymore tubes coming out of them or medications going in. Gawande suggests that state of being is no longer living, so he raises the question of why people do it to themselves or their families. Gawande also provides the benefits of hospice care such as discontinuing medications. When patients stop fighting and start accepting the time they have, they gain more.

Suffering is a constant companion of humans today; people experience it every day, whether it be emotional or physical, internal or external. Living with a terminal illness is also living with suffering, both because of the physical pain that is felt, and also the emotional blows the patient experiences every day. A terminally ill patient has a monumental part of their life taken from them. Few aspects of life still remain in their control, because of doctors, family members, and the illness itself. However, there is a practice that places a final decision, the right to choose the circumstances of death, with the patient. Physician-assisted suicide (PAS), or physician

Keith discusses life, death, and suffering all throughout the article to pull at reader’s heart strings. Everyone has watched a loved one suffer and live day to day wanting to die at some point in their life. He states in the article, “What all these cases have in common is the need to make decisions over “end-of-life care” treatments provided in the last stages of life, when recovery is known to be impossible” (Keith 1). This is put in the article to emphasize that important life or death decisions must be made at times.

Theologically and scientifically the concept of death has remained unopposed for centuries, however the idea of how do we conclude what is the true essence of living continues to be widely debated. A curveball case would be one regarding brain-dead patients. In December 2014, patient Jahi McMath of Oakland California – a state in which one who is brain dead is classified as not legally alive - was declared brain-dead by three doctors, thus lawfully ordered to be removed from life support. Valiant disagreement ensued upon her parents refusal to accept this judgement and till today Jahi is on life support. (Drummond, 2015). Fieser (2008) argues that the neurological theory holds the most rational denotation of death, in which absence of any form

Undisputedly all of us are going to face our mortality and Dr. Kenneth Ring explains that “From a social perspective, we know that each one of us will one day face our moment of death. Therefore, it is imperative that we provide scientific answers to the question of what happens when we die.” (Ring 11) But the problem is we just don’t know the answers to these questions. Is the brain really dead or do we live on in the form of what we term a spirit?

With major advancement in medical treatments, it is now possible to keep a patient alive, which would not have been possible in former times. This has made end of life issue one of the most controversial issues in healthcare. Medical improvements have set the stage for ethical and legal controversies about not only the patient’s rights but also the family’s rights and the medical profession’s proper role. It is critical that any decision made in such situation is ethical and legal to preserve the rights of the patient and also protect the healthcare institution involved. It is very important when making decisions to discontinue treatments to make sure all other alternatives have been explored.

Spinal reflexes, including deep tendon, plantar flexion, and withdrawal reflexes, may remain. Recovery does not occur.” (Maise, “Brain Death – Neurologic Disorders.”) If the brain no longer functions and the only thing keeping a body alive is life support, the person in question is as good as dead. The hospital will file a report with the coroner’s office and the coroner will issue a certificate of death. Life support will only keep a body alive for so long; after brain death, life support functions as a controlled descent into body decomposition. The brain stem is what controls the most primal functions: heart rate, breathing, eating, and more. I researched and researched, but every website I came to told me the same thing: “Without the ventilator giving their body—especially their heart—oxygen, they would die.” (Gogarty, “Does Brain Dead Mean

Our society finds it difficult to talk about dying and euphemisms are the norm. It is typical for both doctors and patients to be hesitant to initiate a discussion on dying. Focus instead is often more often placed on interventions and actions for managing symptoms. This avoidance can leave patients and their families unprepared for the inevitable death. (Schapira, 2010) It also often results in requests for therapies which may be excessive, costly and even painful in the hopes for a cure. One study demonstrates that when patients are aware that they are terminally ill, the majority are able to reach a state of peacefulness and also exhibit lower levels of distress. (Ray, Block, Friedlander, Zhang, Maciejewski & Prigerson, 2006) It is also important that family members are willing to discuss end-of-life options with their loved ones. According to elderly patients, they are most often the ones who initiate these conversations with their

If somebody is brain dead they can donate their heart, intestines, kidneys, liver, lungs, and pancreas. If somebody dies from a different cause they will most likely be able to donate their tissues. After death people can donate their bones, cartilage, corneas, fascia, heart valves, ligaments, pericardium, skin, tendons, and veins (What can be donated). “People can recover from comas, but not brain death. Coma and brain death are not the same. Brain death is final” (Learn the Facts). Many people worry that their loved one is in a coma and not brain dead, or that their brain will start functioning at any second. It can be hard to accept brain death.

Today we are face with death in a different setting then our ancestors, instead of dying at a younger age and dying in our home with our families, people are now dying at a hospital or in a medical setting. We are living longer because of the advances in medicine, this is causing us to develop diseases that our ancestors never had to face. Our ancestors did not live long enough to develop some of the diseases we face today. As Jones (2011) provides, “we don’t just die of different diseases then our ancestors, we also die in different circumstances” (p. 302). The changes in circumstances have caused us to reevaluate what is believed to be ethical when faced with dying. There are many medical options a terminal ill or elderly patient that is dying can choose from, however there is great debate whether some of these options are ethical.