MEDICAL BIOLOGY, ANATOMY, HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY - Ya.I. Fedonyuk 2010

ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, PATHOLOGY

CHAPTER 1. ORGAN. ORGAN SYSTEM. ORGANISM

DEATH: FORMS, STAGES, SIGNS, AND METHODS OF RESUSCITATION

Death is the cessation of life, understood as the irreversible arrest of the body's Functions that makes its existence impossible. The Causes and Mechanisms of death are studied by a specialized science called thanatology. Death is not accompanied by the simultaneous cessation of all organ functions. The period between the death of the Organism as a whole and the cessation of vital activity in individual Tissues and Organs is known as the supravital period. It lasts on average for 20 hours (18-24 hours, depending on the ambient Temperature). This allows organs to be harvested for transplantation (transfer to living humans). The Study of this issue falls under transplantology.

Types of death. A distinction is made between natural (physiological), violent, and non-violent death (death from disease). Natural death occurs in old age due to the physiological cessation of bodily functions. Violent death is the result of accidents (trauma, poisoning, homicide). Non-violent death, or death from disease, occurs As a result of life-incompatible changes within the body. It may occur suddenly against the Background of a concealed course of pathological processes. Such death is referred to as sudden death. Its causes may include acute cerebrovascular accidents (stroke), or aortic Hemorrhage due to a ruptured aneurysm, etc.

Death is preceded by the dying process—a staged process in a living organism with a certain degree of reversibility. Several stages (terminal states) can be distinguished within this process: preagony, agony, clinical death, and biological death.

Preagony is characterized by a variable duration (hours, days). During this period, respiratory disorders, a drop in Blood pressure, weakening of Heart activity, and clouding of consciousness are observed. Preagony gradually transitions into agony.

Agony (from Greek agonos - struggle) is the gradual shutdown of all bodily functions and the extreme exertion of the body's defense mechanisms as they lose their purposeful nature (convulsions, terminal Respiration). It lasts for 2-4 minutes, sometimes longer.

Clinical death is a reversible stage of dying characterized by the absence of respiration and heart contractions. During this time, METABOLISM in the Brain is preserved for a certain period, with the potential restoration of its vital activity.

Clinical death is followed by biological death. The moment of death is the cessation of Cerebral Cortex activity, registered as a flat line on an Electroencephalogram.

Biological death is an irreversible stage of dying characterized by the cessation of metabolism in the brain and, subsequently, in other organs, within the tissues of which irreversible, life-incompatible changes develop. Biological death has A number of signs that are divided into relative and absolute.

Relative (probable) signs of death: a passive, motionless body position; pallor of the Skin; absence of consciousness, respiration, heartbeat, and pulse; tendon Reflexes cannot be elicited; cold extremities.

Absolute signs of death are cadaveric phenomena, i.e., changes occurring in a dead body. Early cadaveric signs develop within the first 24 hours. These include: cooling, desiccation, cadaveric spots (livor mortis), autolysis, and rigor mortis. Late cadaveric signs appear after 1-2 days and can last for years. These include destruction of the corpse by putrefaction and by plants and animals (destructive phenomena), or mummification, peat bog tanning, and preservation of the body in specific environments (conserving phenomena).

Some time after the cessation of respiration and Circulation, the body begins to cool down to the ambient temperature. This occurs due to the cessation of metabolism, heat generation, and energy production. At room temperature, the body cools by 1 °C per hour.

The sudden death of a viable human has at all times prompted attempts to revive the organism. Long before our era, biblical legends featured descriptions of resuscitation attempts by Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. In the 2nd century BC, tracheotomy was described for cases of asphyxia.

During the Renaissance, Andreas Vesalius, one of the founders of modern anatomy, proposed a method of Artificial ventilation consisting of blowing air into the Lungs using bellows through a tube inserted into the Trachea. The prominent English physiologist William Harvey used a technique resembling external cardiac massage in his experiments on bird resuscitation. The foundations of modern resuscitation techniques were laid at the very dawn of anatomy and physiology.

Reanimatology (from Latin re - again, animare - to revive) is the modern science of organism resuscitation, Pathogenesis, Prevention, and Treatment of terminal states, which are understood as states on the brink of life and survival versus death. Reanimatology has proven the possibility of restoring The activity of a stopped heart—previously considered a synonym for death. Reanimatology is an independent branch of medicine that develops the theory and practice of protecting the organism from extreme impacts (aggression). To this end, Methods of artificial substitution or control of vital body functions and systems are employed.