Fruitfly Media

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Chief Coroner’s office and it sparked some thoughts. What happens to us as we die, and why do we die in the first place? So, I went on a Pubmed/Wikipedia hunt to find some answers. It seems there are certain processes that take place when we….kick the bucket.

Just a warning: The video below is a real autopsy and is fairly gruesome

First, the bacteria that live on our bodies that are normally kept within their interior limits, run rampant; however, this process doesn’t start right away. Our own enzymes also start the decomposition process, but again, not immediately.

Here’s how it works. Our bodies’ cells can generally live for a while, up to a few hours, after we’re dead, except for one type ¬– neurons. Our brain cells die within three minutes of hypoxia (no oxygen), but our muscle cells can live a pretty long time without our vital O2.

Some researchers suggest that our neurons, without oxygen, commit suicide, so to speak. It’s called apoptosis, and is a vital part of cellular programming. It’s what pre-cancer cells are supposed to do before they turn into cancer cells. Glutamate, an important neurotransmitter, plays a big part in neuronal apoptosis (which can be caused by ischemia or hypoxia), by influencing calcium ion levels inside the cell.

Here’s how the connection comes in. How do guys like CSI’s Grissom know how long someone’s been dead? Rigor, as those CSI guys like to call it. When we die, our cells release calcium, uncontrollably (they also release it under controlled conditions when we’re alive and well, and we want to flex our muscles). In death, the dispersion of calcium – and the full body muscle flexing that ensues – results in rigor mortis

Anyway, back to the moral. Technically speaking, if we could control this glutamate/calcium neuronal death thing, we might get our brain cells working more like our muscle cells. What this really means is, we could stop breathing and our hearts could stop beating, and we’d technically be dead, but in a few hours when those brilliant doctors had repaired whatever damage was done, we’d come back to life! Those cells that had stopped working for a while would begin working again.

Imagine dying for two hours and then waking up from the dead? Now there’s a fitting Halloween thought!

References will be posted shortly