Is There Life After Brain Death?

   Brain death is the end of brain activity which can’t be undone. Usually, brain-dead patients can have their other organs surgically removed for organ donation if the organs are still healthy. Even after brain death, the heart might still work at a slow pace. But if a person is brain dead, it is said that the person is not legally alive. But is the body still alive?

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   In California, Jahi McMath, a 13-year-old girl was declared brain-dead after experiencing an extremely rare complication from tonsil surgery but still continues to be on a ventilator.  Dr. Diana Greene-Chandos, an assistant professor of neurological surgery and neurology at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center said that the heart can beat outside the body and with just a ventilator, some organs like kidney can continue for about a week. She also said that a brain-dead person cannot maintain the body temperature so the body is kept warm with blankets or kept in a high temperature room.

   A brain-dead person is usually not supported for very long. The doctors only provide support for a few days if the family needs more time to say goodbye to their love ones or if the organs will be for organ donation. The director of the Bioethics Program at the University of Miami, Kenneth Goodman said “if you’re brain-dead, you’re dead, but with technology, we can make the body do some of the things it used to do when you were alive”.

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    The body of a brain-dead person could be, or at least in theory be kept functioning for a long time but maintaining it would be increasingly difficult as time goes by. I know it is very hard to lose someone but in the end, I really don’t know why would some families want to keep the body of a brain-dead person functioning. I guess maybe it depends on the family but for me, losing someone you loved is also part of living and all we need to do is just move on.

Blogpost by: Jordan Ballaran

References:

Rachael Rettner. Life After Brain Death: Is the Body Still ‘Alive’? Last Updated: January 3, 2014 Retrieved from: http://www.livescience.com/42301-brain-death-body-alive.html [Accessed on January 12, 2014]