
Bringing people back from the dead - quasque
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22154552
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aashaykumar92
I wish there were more details of the brain activity in those 3 days where she
'came back from the dead' and if there are, I wish the article had shared
them. Cooling seems to be a driving factor, but was there anything else going
on in her brain during that time (subconsciously perhaps) that can be seen
through scans or such? Hopefully the practice of trying to revive people for
longer periods of time becomes standard throughout medical practices--it'd
hopefully save many lives and also perhaps reveal what is actually happening
(in not just the brain, but the entire body) throughout the process and how to
truly revive an individual if possible--and maybe when it is appropriate.

I've heard of this general concept several times before (coming back from the
dead) as there are countless stories of people seemingly dying but becoming
fully conscious after varying periods of time; however, this is the first time
I heard about cooling being a considerable factor. It fascinates me because it
must mean there are several unearthed factors that could potentially save
millions of lives.

~~~
zimbatm
> Hopefully the practice of trying to revive people for longer periods of time
> becomes standard throughout medical practices

Hopefully not until we understand what makes that these people don't loose
their cognitive functions. Otherwise you'll end up with an army of people in
coma. What do you do with all the resurrection failures ?

~~~
XorNot
Such research would presumably lead to better guidelines for brain-death,
which would give us clearer boundaries on when to pull the plug.

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hiddenfeatures
I don't want to be overly mean, but just look at the statistics. Those cases
are far and few between. I have myself CPRed more than 50 people in my
previous career. For all I know not a single one was able to walk out of the
hospital - and the majority was declared dead on the scene. YMMV based mainly
on country (and hence willingness / ability of the general population to
deliver quality CPR)

In most cases, when the patient "survives" this means that he is disabled (can
not eat, can not walk, can not stand, can not do anything)

~~~
Houshalter
The point is that it is possible, not common. Which is incredible that the
brain can go so long without oxygen and then fully recover, and that we may
someday have the technology to revive people better or more often.

Think if you somehow had a machine that could revive and keep someone's brain
alive regardless of how injured the rest of their body was. And if you had a
whole hour or more to get to them. Not that it's likely to come around anytime
soon, but still.

~~~
hiddenfeatures
Yeah. It is basically a "think big"-story

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ChuckMcM
[Insert joke about how if you don't reap their children they just won't die]

I know two people who have suffered prolonged periods of no heartbeat by being
cooled. One of the things the article points out is how much we don't know
about life function vs non-function. As the mechanics of our bodies are
deciphered the ability to "fix" them gets better. The Department of Defense
published a paper on one of the differences between battlefield casualties in
Vietnam vs Iraq and Afghanistan is that there are a number of things available
that would otherwise result in death.

So at some point Intuitive Surgical or someone else is going to have a 'medi-
doc' type device where you get stuck when you have major trauma and it will
stabilize and 'fix' the trauma to the point where you can recover. Not
necessarily a good place, sometimes its ok to die.

~~~
toomuchtodo
I'll be surprised if medi-vac choppers don't have units to get someone's body
in and chilled during transport to increase the odds of survival in the next
few years.

The days I regret having only a technical background and not going off to be a
pararescue apprentice.... _sigh_

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United857
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information-theoretic_death> is a good way to
think about these things.

~~~
jessriedel
This is certainly one criterion to speculate on in the absence of a good
understanding of conciousness, but keep in mind that waiting for info
theoretic death would probably preclude most organ donation.

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pigou
> Parnia is currently working with a number of hospitals on a project to
> investigate out of body experiences. One of the components of the study is
> to place objects on high shelves in operating theatres, which are only
> observable from above.

~~~
MichaelGG
What kind of controls and proof would be needed for such an experiment to
succeed? This experiment if it worked, would overturn everything we know about
physics. If they claim a positive result, it's vastly more likely due to
improper controls, people deliberately violating them to achieve the result,
etc.

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GotAnyMegadeth
> call 999

>push the cardiac victim hard and fast in the centre of his or her chest

>do it to the beat of Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees

>if you have been trained in CPR then you can do mouth-to-mouth as well

~~~
StavrosK
I wonder if the article writers realize that they've probably let a few people
die by not linking directly to the CPR video:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILxjxfB4zNk>

I couldn't even find it on the British Heart Foundation website.

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pkulak
[http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-
blog/2013/jan/15/bitt...](http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-
blog/2013/jan/15/bitter-end/)

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antonmks
This is exactly why I wear "do not resuscitate" bracelet. I prefer to go
peacefully, without having to spend a few extra years brain-dead in a coma.

~~~
pvaldes
It is your choice.

Some people return from a coma. Some people even return from a coma alive and
well, thanks. Now we know that some neurons can recover and regenerate some
parts and make new conections, and that this is a very slow process. We are
talking of several milimeters/year. It depends on the grade of the damage
received.

To me to loose two years dreaming for, maybe, to win the rest of your life and
see again your love, sons or friends seems a good deal; even if you lose your
(replaceable) money, work, car or even house in the process.

Nobody knows still who will recover and who will die. This situation is still
an economic problem for the family, mainly. The "not resuscitate" option seems
coward to me, and even dangerous if you find yourself in a multiple accident
with a lot of victims to care for, but is your choice.

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progrock
This has been imagined before, but with dire consequences...

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qabOjyTNg6s>

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cmccabe
Some interesting thoughts on this subject:
<http://landley.livejournal.com/57348.html>

