Religious faith and the questions surrounding the afterlife aside, beyond the moment of death, is life in any form a possibility for mere mortals? Theologians, seekers of immortality and scientists have clashed have repeatedly clashed on this matter (turning a deeper shade of indigo in the process), but one radiation oncologist, Dr Jeffrey Long, has after ten years of extensive research into the field declared the answer to be a definitive yes.
A near-death experience is classified as being so close to death that if the body’s condition does not immediately improve, death is inevitable. In fact, the patient is often clinically dead with an absence of breathing and/or a heartbeat. Despite the obvious distress the body is in, the person is often fully aware of and indeed remembers the experience. This raises the question: Why does the mind stay active despite the apparent death of the body.
If we look step-by-step at a near-death experience, the body appears clinically dead, that is, the lungs stop respiring and the heart stops beating to preserve any remaining oxygen for the brain. Due to the lack of blood flow and the oxygen which it carries, the cells go into shock and vigorously attempt to keep themselves alive. Without the circulating oxygen in the blood however this last ditch attempt at survival only brings forward their already inevitable demise. The body cannot remain this way and if the heart and lungs do not begin to respond within a few moments the person will die.
Evidently death is not just a momentary event. It is actually a process that begins when the heart ceases to pump oxygen rich blood in order save oxygen supplies. This manifests in the systemic loss and rapid decomposition of the body’s cells and from this the shutting down of vital organs leading to the pronouncement of death. The interesting point is that the brain is still capable of functioning at this pivotal stage as all remaining oxygen is sent to it alone.
Is the person conscious of their death and what is running through their mind? Does consciousness of thought suddenly stop as soon as the heart stops or is the mind alive for hours later as the body lies lifeless in the morgue? Is there a separation between the death of the brain and the existence of the mind? The fact that people can recount these near-death experiences leaves the scientists in this field in little doubt that the mind’s life-expectancy may outlive the bodies, it does rule it after all.
