Death
hideDeath is the permanent termination of the biological functions that define a living organism. It refers to both a particular event and to the condition that results thereby. The true nature of the latter has for millennia been a central concern of the world's religious traditions and of philosophical enquiry. Many religions maintain faith in either some kind of afterlife or reincarnation. The effect of physical death on any possible mind or soul remains for many an open question.
Animals almost without exception (see hydra) die in due course from senescence. Intervening phenomena which commonly bring death earlier include malnutrition, predation, disease, accidents resulting in terminal physical injury, or, in extreme circumstances, grave ecosystem disruption. Intentional human activity causing death includes suicide, homicide, and war. Roughly 150,000 people die each day across the globe. Death in the natural world can also occur as an indirect result of human activity: an increasing cause of species depletion in recent times has been destruction of ecological systems as a consequence of the widening spread of industrial technology.
Death in this context is now seen as less an event than a process: conditions once considered indicative of death are now reversible. Where in the process a dividing line is drawn between life and death depends on factors beyond the presence or absence of vital signs. In general, clinical death is neither necessary nor sufficient for a determination of legal death. A patient with working heart and lungs determined to be brain dead can be pronounced legally dead without clinical death occurring. Precise medical definition of death, in other words, becomes more problematic, paradoxically, as scientific knowledge and technology advance.
For more information about Death, read the full article at
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News tagged with death
Probing Question: Is the death penalty on the decline in America?
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Dec 17, 2009 |
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In November, the Commonwealth of Virginia executed John A. Muhammad, the infamous “D.C. sniper” responsible for 10 murders seven years earlier. On the eve of his execution, a Washington Post poll found 66 ...
Pores finding reveals targets for cancer and degenerative disease
Dec 18, 2009 |
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Walter and Eliza Hall Institute scientists have identified a key step in the biological process of programmed cell death, also called apoptosis.
Naturally occurring lipid blocks RSV infection in lungs
17 hours ago |
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Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered that a naturally occurring lipid in the lung can prevent RSV infection and inhibit spread of the virus after an infection is established. RSV is the major cause of hospitalization ...
Older adults may have a higher risk of complications and death after abdominal surgery
16 hours ago |
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The risk of complications and early death after commonly performed abdominal surgical procedures appears to be higher among older adults, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Surgery.
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Kidney injury in hospital increases long-term risk of death
Dec 17, 2009 |
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Patients with sudden loss of kidney function, called acute kidney injury (AKI), are more likely to die prematurely after leaving the hospital—even if their kidney function has apparently recovered, according to an upcoming ...
Study: Sticking with heart rehab boosts survival
16 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Medicare beneficiaries with heart disease who attended more cardiac rehabilitation sessions had fewer heart attacks and were less likely to die within four years than those who went to rehab less, researchers ...
Medical team's support of terminal cancer patients' spiritual needs improves quality of life
Dec 15, 2009 |
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In a new study of terminally ill cancer patients, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found support of patients' spiritual needs by the medical team is associated with greater use of hospice, less aggressive care, ...
Air bags not a risk to pregnant women in motor vehicle crashes, study finds
1hour ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new ground-breaking study from University of Washington researchers has found that air bags do not seem to elevate risk of most potential adverse outcomes during pregnancy.
Story of 4.5 million-year-old whale unveiled in Huelva
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Dec 15, 2009 |
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In 2006, a team of Spanish and American researchers found the fossil remains of a whale, 4.5 million years old, in Bonares, Huelva. Now they have published, for the first time, the results of the decay and ...
Global swine flu pandemic deaths pass 10,000: WHO
Dec 18, 2009 |
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The number of swine flu deaths worldwide passed the 10,000 mark about eight months after the pandemic strain was uncovered in April, reaching 10,582, World Health Organisation data showed Friday.
Shift working aggravates metabolic syndrome development among middle-aged males
Dec 17, 2009 |
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Shift work exposures can accelerate metabolic syndrome (MetS) development among the large population of middle-aged males with elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (e-ALT) is a ...
Soup can reopens mystery of doomed Franklin Expedition
Dec 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Lead levels that are "off the scale" have been confirmed after tests were done this morning on the lid of a soup can dating back more than 150 years. The findings reopen the mystery surrounding ...
Heart transplant patients appear to have elevated risk for multiple skin cancers
16 hours ago |
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Many heart transplant patients develop multiple skin cancers, with increased risk for some skin cancers among patients with other cancers and with increasing age, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of ...
Intensive therapy for narrowed arteries linked to fewer heart events
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Intensive medical therapy, including aggressive control of blood pressure and cholesterol levels, for patients with asymptomatic plaque buildup in their carotid arteries (which supply blood to the brain) appears to be associated ...
List of search results for death
