Find out from a doctor whether or not the brain really turns to mush if a brain dead person is kept on a ventilator.
“No, the brain cells do not turn to mush, any more than the other cells in the body,” says Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, medical director of the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers nationally, and author of “The Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Solution.”
“They simply stop having the level of functioning needed for any consciousness or awareness,” as well as the functioning needed for lower-level reflexes (i.e., to pain, light) and for respiration.
Wouldn’t the brain decompose since it’s not getting oxygen?
After all, a brain dead person, according to a PET scan, does not show blood flow in their brain.
Dr. Teitelbaum explains, “The PET scan is not looking for blood flow, but rather, metabolic activity.
“The area of the brain needed for consciousness and higher cognition is much more sensitive to injury than the cells needed to simply maintain sweating and other similar functions.”
Dr. Teitelbaum adds that he’d need to see the PET scan results of a brain dead person to yield a clearer and more accurate response.
He also explains that in a brain dead person, “The brain is getting oxygen, and the heart is circulating blood to the brain.
“What it takes for the nerve cells in the brain to survive is very different than what it takes for them to function and send signals.”
The signals are electrochemical in nature; there are electric currents involved.
This is what an EEG picks up. A flatline EEG means that no electrical activity is detected.
“They are getting the oxygen needed for the cells themselves to survive, but the parts of the brain needed for mental functioning [and lower functioning such as reflexes] are not functioning and sending signals.”
The brain of a brain dead person will thus not decompose or rot.
However, it won’t maintain the textural or visible caliber it had prior to its injury. It will become more water and less brain.
Dr. Teitelbaum
is a board certified internist and nationally known expert in the fields of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, sleep and pain.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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