Assuming that a person has died of old age or disease (and in purely scientific terms) what has happened is that one or more of the systems that enable a person's body to function have irreparably broken down. In simple terms when the respiratory system stops a person is declared clinically dead because there is no new circulation and so now new oxygen is reaching the cells of the body. It is at this stage that a person can be revived either by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), by a blood transfusion, ventilator or a combination thereof. After a maximum of seven minutes (when brain cells start to die from oxygen deprivation) this is no longer possible and the person is pronounced biologically dead.
What happens to the physical body?
As soon as the heart and respiration (which produces the heat that maintains our body temperature) stops the body immediately cools to the ambient temperature. This process is known as algor mortis and is not to be confused with rigor mortis that occurs up to six hours after biological death. As these processes occur the blood and other fluids in the body start to pool and collect. The body will be positioned horizontally, so these liquids will collect in the lower half of the deceased person.
Embalming and Putrefaction
Any secondary (or high school) biology textbook will inform students that the internal organs are home to colonies of bacteria and the enzymes that make almost all of our life processes possible. These microorganisms and biological catalysts then start the grim (but necessary) process of decomposition. It is crucial that the body be embalmed to prevent and manage this process for at least the minimum of time required for religious and/or ceremonial reasons. In short embalming seeks to preserve, sanitise and enable the body to be presented according to the wishes of the bereaved. Overall embalming has a rich cultural history and is a crucial component of most religions, cultures and belief systems.
What we don’t see in the coffin
In most countries, there are thankfully strict laws and customs which preclude for a whole host of reasons why most of us never actually experience the decay of a deceased person's body. Aside from cultural and religious reasons, a body is embalmed because it is often necessary to delay the inevitable decay processes which occur in the coffin. The first visible stage of decomposition is the discolouration of the body, which first turns green, then purple and then black. In tandem with this process, the body will began to expand and begin to exude the gases such as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide (the rotten egg gas) and class of organo-sulfur compounds called mercaptans. It is these gases that cause the body to swell and bloat. After about a week the skin will blister, the teeth fall out of their sockets and the internal organs will have liquefied. It will take anything up to a year for the whole process to produce a skeleton.
After the pronouncement of death what happens to the personality or soul (if accepted as true) depends on religious and / or spiritual beliefs. As for the body the processes involved are well documented and understood and so for many are of a secondary consideration.
http://www.jcwalwyn.co.uk/
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What happens to the physical body?
As soon as the heart and respiration (which produces the heat that maintains our body temperature) stops the body immediately cools to the ambient temperature. This process is known as algor mortis and is not to be confused with rigor mortis that occurs up to six hours after biological death. As these processes occur the blood and other fluids in the body start to pool and collect. The body will be positioned horizontally, so these liquids will collect in the lower half of the deceased person.
Embalming and Putrefaction
Any secondary (or high school) biology textbook will inform students that the internal organs are home to colonies of bacteria and the enzymes that make almost all of our life processes possible. These microorganisms and biological catalysts then start the grim (but necessary) process of decomposition. It is crucial that the body be embalmed to prevent and manage this process for at least the minimum of time required for religious and/or ceremonial reasons. In short embalming seeks to preserve, sanitise and enable the body to be presented according to the wishes of the bereaved. Overall embalming has a rich cultural history and is a crucial component of most religions, cultures and belief systems.
What we don’t see in the coffin
In most countries, there are thankfully strict laws and customs which preclude for a whole host of reasons why most of us never actually experience the decay of a deceased person's body. Aside from cultural and religious reasons, a body is embalmed because it is often necessary to delay the inevitable decay processes which occur in the coffin. The first visible stage of decomposition is the discolouration of the body, which first turns green, then purple and then black. In tandem with this process, the body will began to expand and begin to exude the gases such as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide (the rotten egg gas) and class of organo-sulfur compounds called mercaptans. It is these gases that cause the body to swell and bloat. After about a week the skin will blister, the teeth fall out of their sockets and the internal organs will have liquefied. It will take anything up to a year for the whole process to produce a skeleton.
After the pronouncement of death what happens to the personality or soul (if accepted as true) depends on religious and / or spiritual beliefs. As for the body the processes involved are well documented and understood and so for many are of a secondary consideration.
http://www.jcwalwyn.co.uk/
.