Cancer Diary: Clinical Death, Biological Death, Resuscitation, and Cancer
When Carl, dying of cancer, said, as part of his advance directive, that he would want to be resuscitated, doctors and hospice workers always reacted with surprise. Of course, it was his right. At the time, I just wanted to support him in his preferences. In retrospect, the question arises, resuscitated into what? And, is resuscitation even possible? It would seem that the answer to the second question would eliminate the need to answer the first. In short, there are two stages (or kinds of) death: clinical death and biological death. Clinical death occurs when a person’s heart stops beating. About four to six minutes later, brain cells start to die from the loss of oxygen and biological death occurs. Resuscitation may be possible during clinical death. But it’s not possible during biological death, the time at which life ceases. Biological death is determined by the irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brainstem. This is often referred...