What is the medical definition of death? And how do medical examiners determine whether a person has really deceased, as opposed to for example a condition like brain death?
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2$\begingroup$ I think is mainly opinion based. Even medically there are different definitions or versions of death (cardiopulmonary death and brain death). $\endgroup$– NicolaiAug 20, 2017 at 15:12
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2$\begingroup$ Your question has been asked in a similar form before. Check out this thread: biology.stackexchange.com/questions/43554/… - you might find a useful answer there. Full disclosure: top answer is mine. $\endgroup$– ForestAug 20, 2017 at 15:29
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2$\begingroup$ You might be better asking how we define and determine death. $\endgroup$– JohnAug 20, 2017 at 15:29
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1$\begingroup$ To rephrase @John's comment, you might be better asking "What are the most common ways we define death?" $\endgroup$– Remi.bAug 20, 2017 at 16:09
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1$\begingroup$ From the deleted answer of Kawin M came this link to Quora $\endgroup$– AliceD ♦Aug 20, 2017 at 18:17
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Ok. So when a doctor declares a person dead, it is when their heart or brain is totally not working, and won't start working no matter what they do.
This is legal death.
If your heart stops cold, you are clinically dead. This is reversible, if you are lucky. This definition basically only exists so people can say they "died". It has no real biological significance, except for the fact that your heart is not pumping blood and providing you with oxygen. This will cause...
Biological death: Within 5-10 minutes at room temp you have reached the event horizon of biological death. Biological death is real death.
Once this time threshold is crossed, there is almost always no going back. This is because Cells in the brain are destroyed by oncosis, and other mechanisms and forces far beyond me.
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$\begingroup$ @AliceD I mean, it's kind of common knowledge. $\endgroup$ Sep 4, 2017 at 16:34