What is brain death?

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what is brain death?

One certainty in life is that we all die. In most cases it is easy to tell when

someone has died; they do not breathe or move, they do not have a pulse and they

are cold to touch. However for the brain dead person they continue to breathe

(because of the ventilator - breathing machine) and as such oxygenated blood

continues to flow around the body, giving them a state of being " alive " . The

following information to commonly asked questions may help you to better

understand brain death.

if an individual is brain dead, what does that mean?

The upper part of the brain, the cerebrum, is involved in all conscious

functions including sensation, movement, memory, thought and personality. The

brain stem is the lower part of the brain and controls basic, vital functions

such as wakefulness, breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and temperature.

The brain is held in a bony skull and has no room to swell if injured. Although

a sprained ankle has room for the tissues to swell, the brain does not. As the

brain swells, pressure builds up inside the skull causing brain cells to die

that are being pushed against the skull. As pressure continues and the brain

cannot expand any further, it pushes against the brain stem at the bottom of the

brain to expand through the hole at the base of the skull. As all of the blood

flow and messages to and from the cerebrum pass through the brain stem, function

becomes lost due to the excessive pressure. This is the time a person becomes

brain dead. The person will never again be awake, breathe, see, hear, feel,

think or remember. The very essence of being " alive " is taken away.

 

i have always understood that when an individual dies, the heart stops beating.

if an individual is brain dead, why does the heart continue to beat?

As the ventilator continues to push air into the lungs, it assists in delivering

oxygen through the bloodstream to the beating heart and the rest of the body.

The heart also has its own natural pacemaker and therefore can continue to beat

for awhile after brain death has been announced. Because of the ventilator

giving oxygen and the heart naturally beating, the tissues continue to receive

oxygenated blood, therefore the body stays warm too.

how does the doctor decide that they are brain dead? can they ever wake up?

In patients who are in intensive care with a severe head injury, frequent

observations are carried out by the nurse, to monitor the patient's responses

and level of consciousness. The nurse notifies the doctor of any deterioration

in the patient's condition. Given this information, the doctor may suspect brain

death has occurred and therefore carry out tests to check brain function.

Brain death is diagnosed by two independent doctors. The tests show whether the

brain has any blood flow to it and whether it is functioning. If there is no

blood flow the brain dies. Coma and brain death are different. A coma is an

unconscious state from which you may recover, the brain keeps working even while

the patient is unconscious. Brain death occurs when the brain has been so badly

damaged from the lack of oxygen and blood supply that the brain stops

functioning permanently.

what is the recorded time of death for a brain dead patient?

Two doctors who have at least five years of experience in their chosen

specialty, must each perform a special set of tests, 2 -12 hours apart, to

determine brain death. Upon the second set of tests when the patient is

pronounced brain dead, medically and legally this is the time which is entered

as the time of death.

 

 

 

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