why can't you restart the heart and lungs and get the body and brain going?
2007-06-06 12:42:01 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Medicine
I think the simple answer is that cells undergo necrosis (cell death) after they cease to be supplied with nutrition and oxygen. Once that happens, normal function cannot resume.
2007-06-06 12:51:00 · answer #1 · answered by Jan O 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You can't restart the heart and lungs because by that point individual cells have died and you've irreversibly damaged your internal organs. Brain cells begin to die within 3 minutes of oxygen starvation and do not regenerate, and heart cells will begin to die very quickly as well. Being dead for 3 days would be the equivalent of having a massive heart attack and stroke, only if your liver, kidneys, spleen, intestines, and muscle cells also died.
Of course, there are instances where people who have been dead for a long time have been revived. When people are submerged in very cold water and are unable to receive any oxygenation, your body's cells can enter a state of suspended animation where they require very little to no oxygen. People have fallen through ice and been pulled out hours later and been revived. So it is conceivable if a person was flash frozen that they might be revivable, but other than that it wouldn't be possible.
2007-06-06 20:28:51 · answer #2 · answered by Jay 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The body does not die all at once.. but once the brain cells die, and they will quickly without an oxygenated blood supply, they cannot be revived. The entire body starts to decay, like a raw hamburger left on the counter for a few hours.. no way to refresh it, cook it and consume it (the hambuger meat).. or at least I wouldn't.
Now there have been instances where a person drowned in very cold water and was there for some time, and they were revived and minimum problems were found.
2007-06-06 20:37:37 · answer #3 · answered by billy d 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It just doesn't work that way. Once the system is dead and has been dead a while it just can't be done. The blood has coagulated in the veins. The nerve circuitry has stopped making connections from the brain to the rest of the body. We are not cars. We can't just be restarted. Life is still, in many ways, an enigma.
Sometimes they can restart the heart immediately after someone has flat lined but it has to be quick and effective for it to work. Once some one is dead, they are dead.
2007-06-06 19:47:37 · answer #4 · answered by Lady Geologist 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If it is just a couple minutes then it is possible. After a while though all of your major organs shut down so you would have to start all of them which isn;t possible for now. Plus you can't just restart the brain
2007-06-06 21:20:49 · answer #5 · answered by jodoin1234 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
after 6 minutesof death, CNS cells start deteriorating due to lack of oxygen supply. After a few days of death the brain is dead which means no brain wave or activity. CPR is good as long as the brain is ok.
2007-06-07 01:09:46 · answer #6 · answered by einsteinliam2 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If someone has been exposed to very cold temps, then there is a chance of restarting their heart for a few hours. This is very rare.
2007-06-06 20:28:31 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they start to stink real bad and no one wants to give them mouth to mouth.
2007-06-06 19:46:50 · answer #8 · answered by ANSWER MY QUESTION!! 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
oh, I do this all the time
2007-06-06 20:27:34 · answer #9 · answered by cowabunga 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋