Why Can't a Corpse be Reanimated?

Emerald InnsEmerald Inns Posts: 4,705
Forum Member
✭✭✭
As a follow on to the corpse/skeleton thread...

What actually prevents a corpse being brought back to life, from a scientific point of view? Clearly if a body's been dead for too long then it's not possible as too much damage has been done by decomposition. And if the body has suffered from severe damage it wouldn't be possible either. But what is there to stop someone reanimating a newly-dead body and keeping it alive?
«1

Comments

  • Granny WeatherwaxGranny Weatherwax Posts: 52,923
    Forum Member
    As a follow on to the corpse/skeleton thread...

    What actually prevents a corpse being brought back to life, from a scientific point of view? Clearly if a body's been dead for too long then it's not possible as too much damage has been done by decomposition. And if the body has suffered from severe damage it wouldn't be possible either. But what is there to stop someone reanimating a newly-dead body and keeping it alive?

    Its called a life support machine, which techincally keeps the vital organs going until the decision is taken to switch it off. Bascially nothing yet has been invented that can perform the the stuff the brain does, once its dead you're gone.
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    As a follow on to the corpse/skeleton thread...

    What actually prevents a corpse being brought back to life, from a scientific point of view? Clearly if a body's been dead for too long then it's not possible as too much damage has been done by decomposition. And if the body has suffered from severe damage it wouldn't be possible either. But what is there to stop someone reanimating a newly-dead body and keeping it alive?

    If it were possible, more attempted resuscitations would turn out to be successful resuscitations ;)............... it's probably better if we learn to accept that the body (or some parts of it) sometimes just wears out.
  • Emerald InnsEmerald Inns Posts: 4,705
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Its called a life support machine, which techincally keeps the vital organs going until the decision is taken to switch it off. Bascially nothing yet has been invented that can perform the the stuff the brain does, once its dead you're gone.

    So it's the brain that keeps the heart going and which 'tells' the lungs to breath? And 'brain death' is essentially 'total body death' too?

    And Cazza, so if someone had a heart attack, why IS it so difficult to get the heart beating again?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,354
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    So it's the brain that keeps the heart going and which 'tells' the lungs to breath? And 'brain death' is essentially 'total body death' too?

    And Cazza, so if someone had a heart attack, why IS it so difficult to get the heart beating again?
    I often wondered that say when someone's heart stops beating... why don't they hook them up to one of those machines that does the same job?
    Surely the person would stay alive then?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 386
    Forum Member
    When cells are starved of oxygen, they begin to die :cry: A heart attack involves death of muscle tissue. Presumably the more tissue that dies, the less chance of the heart beating again
  • Emerald InnsEmerald Inns Posts: 4,705
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    TVTina wrote: »
    When cells are starved of oxygen, they begin to die :cry: A heart attack involves death of muscle tissue. Presumably the more tissue that dies, the less chance of the heart beating again

    That makes sense. So the heart is too damaged to be saved? It doesn't just 'sit there' in the torso after death, waiting to be 'activated' again?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,354
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    That makes sense. So the heart is too damaged to be saved? It doesn't just 'sit there' in the torso after death, waiting to be 'activated' again?

    What about putting a new one?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 386
    Forum Member
    I guess the only exception would be when a heart is removed for transplant, but then it would be in good condition to start with and kept in ice to reduce cell death.
  • Granny WeatherwaxGranny Weatherwax Posts: 52,923
    Forum Member
    That makes sense. So the heart is too damaged to be saved? It doesn't just 'sit there' in the torso after death, waiting to be 'activated' again?

    The heart has its own blood supply via the coronary arteries, if these arteries are damaged, the heart muscle dies (myocardial infarction) the more muscle that dies due to lack of perfusion in the tissue the less likely the heart will be able to function properly.

    Also sometime the 'electrics' go without that the heart can't contract. A heart that doesn't contract can't pump blood to the rest of the body, therefore multiple organ failure is the outcome and all the organs are damaged beyond repair.

    Once the heart is dead it just sits in the body and decays.
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    That makes sense. So the heart is too damaged to be saved? It doesn't just 'sit there' in the torso after death, waiting to be 'activated' again?

    Sorry Emerald - I went off to do something so didn't see your question.

    Yes the heart does suffer damage during a heart attack and depending on which part is affected, there can be too much damage for it ever to be able to function.
    Sometimes the heart can stop due to an electrical "short-circuit" and can be shocked back into a normal rhythm again .............. but that's a different kind of issue. :)
  • Granny WeatherwaxGranny Weatherwax Posts: 52,923
    Forum Member
    Cazza23 wrote: »
    Sorry Emerald - I went off to do something so didn't see your question.

    Yes the heart does suffer damage during a heart attack and depending on which part is affected, there can be too much damage for it ever to be able to function.
    Sometimes the heart can stop due to an electrical "short-circuit" and can be shocked back into a normal rhythm again .............. but that's a different kind of issue. :)

    Unless they are in asystole, then more than likely they are a gonner. Although some studies. . . . . .

    Asystole is sometimes referred to as 'flatlining' although this I have been told is not acutally the case, as there is still little bumps. this is when there is no electrical activity in the heart at all, and this is one of the signs use to certify death has occurred.
  • Emerald InnsEmerald Inns Posts: 4,705
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    OK, another question. Imagine you had a heart in good condition and transplanted it into a corpse that had been kept in good condition. If you managed to reactivate the heart would it then 'power up' the rest of the body? And during heart transplants, how do they get the transplanted heart to start pumping again?

    It seems that myocardial infarction is what's causing the real problems.

    Looking into the future, do you see a time when the currently insuperable difficulties surrounding corpse reanimation will be overcome? Or are the different factors involved just too complicated?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 179
    Forum Member
    I used to wonder this when i was in bed with my first boyfriend lol

    Ali x:)x
  • .Bobbie..Bobbie. Posts: 117
    Forum Member
    As a follow on to the corpse/skeleton thread...

    What actually prevents a corpse being brought back to life, from a scientific point of view? Clearly if a body's been dead for too long then it's not possible as too much damage has been done by decomposition. And if the body has suffered from severe damage it wouldn't be possible either. But what is there to stop someone reanimating a newly-dead body and keeping it alive?



    You could'nt do it because the body would have no spirit. The spirit leaves the moment the person dies.
  • Granny WeatherwaxGranny Weatherwax Posts: 52,923
    Forum Member
    OK, another question. Imagine you had a heart in good condition and transplanted it into a corpse that had been kept in good condition. If you managed to reactivate the heart would it then 'power up' the rest of the body? And during heart transplants, how do they get the transplanted heart to start pumping again?

    It seems that myocardial infarction is what's causing the real problems.

    Looking into the future, do you see a time when the currently insuperable difficulties surrounding corpse reanimation will be overcome? Or are the different factors involved just too complicated?

    They shock the heart to get it beating again, remember we are talking about a healthy heart being restarted, not trying to restart a damaged one.

    Myocardial infarction is the result of the whatever had caused the heart to stop functioning correctly in the first place.


    As for the future, I have no idea.

    My brain now hurts lots! :(
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Unless they are in asystole, then more than likely they are a gonner. Although some studies. . . . . .

    Asystole is sometimes referred to as 'flatlining' although this I have been told is not acutally the case, as there is still little bumps. this is when there is no electrical activity in the heart at all, and this is one of the signs use to certify death has occurred.

    Oh come off it Granny............... it's not a physiology lecture!!! :p:p


    Yes, you're stuffed in asystole!! ;)................ and you're right - flat-lining is an urban myth!
  • Granny WeatherwaxGranny Weatherwax Posts: 52,923
    Forum Member
    .Bobbie. wrote: »
    You could'nt do it because the body would have no spirit. The spirit leaves the moment the person dies.

    What point is that? Brainstem death? When the heart stops beating?
  • thecreepingmessthecreepingmess Posts: 3,070
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    .Bobbie. wrote: »
    You could'nt do it because the body would have no spirit. The spirit leaves the moment the person dies.

    Yes. That is exactly what happens.
  • Emerald InnsEmerald Inns Posts: 4,705
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    .Bobbie. wrote: »
    You could'nt do it because the body would have no spirit. The spirit leaves the moment the person dies.

    I don't believe that. If you reanimated someone from death, no matter if 100 years had passed, to the person who had been 'resurrected' it would be as though they had just been asleep. The 'spirit' is no more than synapses and chemical reactions whizzing about in your brain.

    But please don't let this become a 'spiritual vs. non-spiritual' thread. :cry:
  • Granny WeatherwaxGranny Weatherwax Posts: 52,923
    Forum Member
    Cazza23 wrote: »
    Oh come off it Granny............... it's not a physiology lecture!!! :p:p


    Yes, you're stuffed in asystole!! ;)................ and you're right - flat-lining is an urban myth!

    Sorry, but its one of the areas that I'm interested in so I actually studied! :D:D:D
  • Emerald InnsEmerald Inns Posts: 4,705
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Cazza and GW: thanks for your replies! I might have more questions later :)
  • .Bobbie..Bobbie. Posts: 117
    Forum Member
    Yes. That is exactly what happens.


    First person that has ever agreed with me.;)
  • Granny WeatherwaxGranny Weatherwax Posts: 52,923
    Forum Member
    Cazza and GW: thanks for your replies! I might have more questions later :)

    Really? :eek::eek:

    :D
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Really? :eek::eek:

    :D

    :eek::eek::eek:

    *grabs Granny by the hand and legs it* :D:D:D
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    .Bobbie. wrote: »
    First person that has ever agreed with me.;)


    Cos you're bonkers!!! :p:p:p
Sign In or Register to comment.