So I was thinking..when a person dies out of lack of nutrition, what is the direct reason of death?

Question

Probably it is the lack of water, since human can last a few days without food but aproximately two without water, but what exactly? I was wondering what is the exact reason of death. All biologists are very welcome to answer talking biological.

I watched this movie about these dudes that didn't make it through the desert, what a gruesome death. It got me wondering.

Hit me

Thanks for your answers, guys.
You just confirmed my belief that it is very horrible.

Of course I do remember the story of Terri Schiavo..

Oscar goes to M D - very detailed biological explanation. And you just raised another question - what if a person would drink but eat nothing. How it is then?

Once again, thanks for the answers!

And once again, hit me!

I just read it again. You answered that one already.

Thanks and here's to you!

Answer 1

Yes, dehydration would cause death before a lack of nutrients, but why does dehydration cause death? It's a bit more gruesome than kidney failure.

As the amount of water in the body decreases, the blood becomes thicker and thicker. Eventually, the blood becomes too thick to flow easily. Cause of death could be a heart attack, or even a blood clot in the brain or lungs. It's unlikely that organ failure (such as kidney or liver) would be the primary cause of death.

Now, if a person had access to water, but not to food, then a lot would depend on the person's individual state of health before the starvation began. The body would begin converting fat stores into fuel, and then muscle. Unlike normal energy sources (carbohydrates), the process of converting internal energy stores into usable energy produces some unpleasant waste by-products, which will indeed put a strain on the kidneys. The inefficiency of this process causes the body to go into "standby" mode. Everything begins operating at an absolute minimal level, trying to conserve energy. Lack of carbohydrates will cause decrease in brain function. Lack of vitamins will strain various metabolic processes even with the energy produced from metabolizing fat stores .Muscles will be unable to maintain themselves as fuel runs out. Eventually, again, the heart would likely give out from a simple lack of energy to continue. Multiple organ failure could also result, but in the end... heart failure.

Answer 2

I am not a biologist, but I can relate a true situation of this type of death.
You are correct. The cause of death is dehydration. The reason I know this is because of my interest in following the Terri Schiavo story. Do you remember it? She was "brain dead" and her husband chose to have her life support removed so that her suffering could end. Terri's mother and other family members fought for the life support to remain intact. There were many news stories and commentaries on it and I remember 2 doctors who described what her death would be like. And I agree that "gruesome" is the correct word.
If you are not familiar with that story, here is a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Schiavo

Thanks for letting me have a say.

Answer 3

First the kidneys would start to strain as the water levels decrease in the body, causing salt levels to go up. Eventually, the kidneys will fail as the salt level in the body gets too high (because the water level gets too low). The toxic buildup that results is most likely what will kill the person, but the water levels in all the rest of the organs is also decreasing due to dehydration, so in the end it will be a race as to which organ will fail first.

Answer 4

i think it is because cells in the body are not provided with digested food and water, thereby resulting to dying of the cells

Answer 5

If its no food & no water, they would die of dehydration (or so I would think).