Clinical death

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Clinical death occurs when a patient's heartbeat and breathing have stopped. Since breathing rarely continues when the heart is stopped, clinical death is synonymous with cardiac arrest or cardiac death. The reversal of clinical death is sometimes possible through CPR, Defibrillation, Epinephrine injection, and other treatments. Resuscitation after more than 4 to 6 minutes of clinical death at normal body temperature is difficult, and can result in brain damage or later brain death even if cardiac resuscitation is successful. Longer intervals of clinical death can be survived under conditions of Hypothermia. Hypothermia also improves outcomes after resuscitation from clinical death even if body temperature is not lowered until after resuscitation.

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Near-Death Experiences

In 1975, physician Raymond Moody published a book, claiming that hundreds of near-death survivors had reported overwhelmingly pleasant experiences, after clinical death events. During these experiences, he noted, they seemed to leave their bodies and view resuscitation attempts from above; then they passed down a dark tunnel toward a brilliant light, met a “being of light” who helped them to evaluate and judge their own lives, and finally decided to return to life rather than go on into the peace and bliss of death. The appearance of Moody's book, opened the gate to other clinical death survivors, who claimed to be witnesses to these kind of events.

These reports had been cited by some religions, being evidence of the existence of the soul. Modern science suggests that the uniformity of the experiences instead points to a underlying biological explanation.

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