does the brain die when the heart stops beating?

Question

I know that the brain is dead even if the heart is beating, but can the brain survive for a few minutes after the heart stops?

Answer 1

Yes, the brain will start to die without a supply of oxygen (i.e. blood, i.e. beating heart). I think it takes about 6 minutes, although it can become permanently damaged from lack of oxygen in a shorter time. This is why people use CPR (mouth to mouth and pumping on the chest) to manually carry out the functions of the heart and lungs. By doing this one can supply a limited amount of oxygen to the brain to keep it alive until an ambulance arrives.

Answer 2

the brains needs oxygen to survive like any other organ...thats why even though the hearts still beats other organs a can survive even when the brain is "dead" but if the heart stops then all organs die including the brain within minutes.

Answer 3

The brain needs oxygen, just like any other organ.

Deprive a body organ of oxygen for long enough, and it can get damaged beyond repair.

Oxygen is delivered via blood.
Blood is delivered by the Heart pumping.

When doctors do surgery, sometimes they deliver blood by artificial means, especially if they are doing heart surgery.

There are some controversies regarding what can happen with blood vessels that are deprived of blood for too long (they need oxygen also) & whether that damage can be fixed in time to save the organs that the blood is going to.

Answer 4

The brain dies when it doesn't get enough oxygen.

We can keep people alive without a beating heart - it's called cardiopulmonary bypass - a machine oxygenates the blood and circulates it throughout the body.

Answer 5

Less than 5 minutes until irreversible brain damage

Answer 6

Yes, it can also be the other way around.