Why Is Brain Death Important

viii. Brain Death must be established- person must cease having neurons firing in the neuro system

In "What is Death? The Crisis of Criteria" Louis Pojman introduced four definitions of death and describes their benefits and limitations. The four definitions include loss of the soul, cardiopulmonary failure, whole brain death and neocortical brain death, of which the cardiopulmonary is typically most common. I intend to show, using the work of Jonathan Glover and reasoning, that the neocortical brain death definition holds significant merit and is truly more practical and ethical.

Death is something that has been contemplated for years and years, but what is it really? Why does it even happen? Is there any way to delay or stop it? There is no clear answer but speculation has led to

Louis Pojman and Roland Puccetti took the position that neocortical brain death was the best definition of death. Many implications resulted from this, including views on assisted death and organ transplant. Would this lead to a slippery slope regarding what death was? Would this lead to an increase in organs available for donation? These are only some of the implications that arose from Pojman and Puccetti’s position. Looking at the neocortical brain death position versus the biologically integrative whole brain position allowed for judgement on which definition had better merit. I will argue that the biological whole brain position is more inconsistent in regards to application. As such, I will take the position of advocating for the

Criteria for declaring death using neurological criteria developed, and today a whole brain definition of death is widely used and recognized as an acceptable way to determine death. (Iltis)

Death is the action or fact of dying or being killed; the end of the life of a person or

The authors/researchers began with one hundred twenty brains that were divided into the following groups: 97 brains from SIDS victims and 23 from victims which died having no occurrence of brain damage.

Changes in the brain-death statute were made relatively recently by the governor; there is now more reliance on clinical evaluations and trancranial Doppler tests. Doppler ultrasound assesses measurements of blood flow. Used noninvasively, an ultrasonic signal transmission is carried through the body. The echo signal returns from red blood cells – the return signal yields a Doppler shift signal (Bay, 1999).

McMahan 's The Metaphysics of Brain Death presents a case for the distinction between the body as the organism and the mind as the person. In defining this “mind-body dualism” (sec. 0, abstract), McMahan 's distinction brings forth a greater implication in the criterion for the death of a person, exploring the “dominant conception of brain death” which reasons that the loss of capacity for consciousness, caused by irreversible damage to the whole brain or brain stem, is sufficient for such a declaration as a persons ceasing to live (sec. 1, pars. 1-3). McMahan does not oppose the argument of brain death on the grounds of capacity for consciousness, but rather uses this to present that “the death of the entire brain is not equivalent to

This means that physicians will not intervene with the patients’ condition and allow the disease to aggravate. The patients will die from the absent of life-prolonging medical treatments and their worsened physical conditions. Passive euthanasia volunteered by patients is currently authorized by the American Medical Association. Thus, physicians who perform this procedure are not in breach of the medical ethical codes (Rachels, 1975). On the other hand, active euthanasia is the use of a lethal substance to end one’s life. This method includes injecting a large amount of barbiturate or anesthetic medications into patients (Rachels, 1975). The patients would overdose on these medications and eventually pass away. Active euthanasia is the most popular method among patients who decide to end his or her life. Many patients prefer this method since ideally it is painless (Schiavo, 2011). Medical doctors are asked to perform this procedure because they have the training and the understanding of toxicology. Barbiturate is the common name for a group of drugs that act to depress the central nervous system activities (Levine, 2009). In the human body, the central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord. The psychomotor functions are affected significantly when barbiturates are in the central nervous system. This class of medication produces inhibitory effect

Traditionally death was defined with the heart-lung criterion which referred to cardio-respiratory death. The lower brain is what controls respiration therefore the destruction of the brainstem causes loss of all cardio-respiratory vital signs and so death ensues. In 1981, a new definition arose which was labelled as Whole Brain Death. It is defined as an individual being declared dead, despite continuing functional vital signs. (Pojman, pp. 102) There is no consciousness, no control of brainstem reflexes, and a loss of cognitive functions. The individual’s survival is dependent on artificial mechanisms that are provided by doctors. This newer definition was created due to modern technology being able to revive someone who is cardio-respiratory

Before taking this class I was oblivious to the apparently well-known fact that there are two standards of death. One standard is the cardiopulmonary standard, which is when the heart and lungs cease to function on their own. The second standard is the total brain death standard which is when there is complete and irreversible loss of brain function. There are people who stand in both corners of this argument but most, if not all, stand for only one standard. While the definitions of each standard seems to be clear cut, it is not, as there are some cases in which one standard will not suffice, which we will be discussing in a later paragraph. I will argue that both the

This has been part of my own journey of understanding myself while learning to transition from a faith centered community to a scientific community, and dealing with the personal challenges. My opinion on this topic may change and develop over time, but I wanted to chart my own process and check my understanding of the topic.

Per the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a diagnosis of brain death is considered legally and clinically dead. It is evidenced by coma, absence of brainstem reflexes and apnea, and is defined as an irreversible loss of brain function. (Brain Death) As a healthcare provider, it can be easy to make a

Death is something that everyone has to eventually face it one day. The conception of death changes across the life span, as it is mention in the book “Discovering the life span” by Robert Feldman. Defining death is a complex process, which is determining at which point does the life ends. There are different stages of death such as functional death, brain death, infant and childhood deaths, and death in adolescence, death in young adulthood, death in middle adulthood and death in late adulthood. Death education term refers to different educational activities and various experiences related to death, bereavement, grief and affection for people who are being affected by death.