New research into the dying brain suggests the line between life and death may be less distinct than previously thought
Patient One was 24 years old and pregnant with her third child when she was taken off life support. It was 2014. A couple of years earlier, she had been diagnosed with a disorder that caused an irregular heartbeat, and during her two previous pregnancies she had suffered seizures and faintings. Four weeks into her third pregnancy, she collapsed on the floor of her home. Her mother, who was with her, called 911. By the time an ambulance arrived, Patient One had been unconscious for more than 10 minutes. Paramedics found that her heart had stopped.
After being driven to a hospital where she couldn’t be treated, Patient One was taken to the emergency department at the University of Michigan. There, medical staff had to shock her chest three times with a defibrillator before they could restart her heart. She was placed on an external ventilator and pacemaker, and transferred to the neurointensive care unit, where doctors monitored her brain activity. She was unresponsive to external stimuli, and had a massive swelling in her brain. After she lay in a deep coma for three days, her family decided it was best to take her off life support. It was at that point – after her oxygen was turned off and nurses pulled the breathing tube from her throat – that Patient One became one of the most intriguing scientific subjects in recent history.
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In the moments after Patient One was taken off oxygen, there was a surge of activity in her dying brain. Areas that had been nearly silent while she was on life support suddenly thrummed with high-frequency electrical signals called gamma waves. In particular, the parts of the brain that scientists consider a “hot zone” for consciousness became dramatically alive. In one section, the signals remained detectable for more than six minutes. In another, they were 11 to 12 times higher than they had been before Patient One’s ventilator was removed.
“As she died, Patient One’s brain was functioning in a kind of hyperdrive,” Borjigin told me. For about two minutes after her oxygen was cut off, there was an intense synchronisation of her brain waves, a state associated with many cognitive functions, including heightened attention and memory. The synchronisation dampened for about 18 seconds, then intensified again for more than four minutes. It faded for a minute, then came back for a third time.
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In 2011, Japanese doctors reported the case of a young woman who was found in a forest one morning after an overdose stopped her heart the previous night; using advanced technology to circulate blood and oxygen through her body, the doctors were able to revive her more than six hours later, and she was able to walk out of the hospital after three weeks of care
What the fuck?
It was probably very cold outside, and the patient had some unique circumstances.
I gotta say my takeaway from this is completely different than anyone else’s.
Why the fuck would you continue having kids when you know being pregnant causes severe medical issues?
I honestly wish I could understand the drive to procreate despite knowing that doing so could fucking kill you
If you havnt had children you will never know and this applied to me as well as anyone else.
To me now: I have a love for them so much I would die to protect them, they are my legacy and life has far more meaning with them in it now.
I understand her reasoning completely.
Yeah but that’s all the reason for her not to do this. She left her other kids without a mother because she wanted more kids. It was extremely selfish and I feel sorry for her kids.
You left out the biggest assumption, you assumed she knew it was fatal, fainting is very common in pregnancy for a lot of reasons. Take away this assumption and it makes sense.
She was diagnosed, and it had to do with her heart. She knew the risk of pregnancy. It’s not an assumption, it’s right there in the article.
Again with the assumptions, you dont know when at what point. First trimester fainting is very common making it easy to dismiss and miss diagnose.
Did you read the post? She was diagnosed with a heart issue. She had seizures, that’s not common. What am I assuming?
You seem to be purposefully ignoring whole sentences in the post.
No.
I read the article unlike you. Not 3rd hand interpretation.
She had been through 2 other pregnancies successfully giving birth with the experience of non fatal complication.
Their is a lot of assumption all around here. What this thread and my comment is trying to convey is some form of reason as to WHY. Something no one can answer except her ultimately.
But my god are we all armchair experts with hindsight….
