The 7 Stages of Death: What Happens to Our Body When We Die
The fact that there are many unanswerable questions about death only makes death even scarier for most people. Approximately 150,000 people die each day around the world. According to a survey in the US, 68% of Americans are Necrophobic or have a fear of death. This can be one of the reasons why funeral plans and life plans appeal to some people as it is the only certain thing they can do about death: prepare. There are some people that are not comfortable with the subject of death and funeral plans and we can’t blame them. It just great to think that funeral plan providers in the Philippines have shifted to an approach that can make highlights what the holder’s family needs.
But not everything about death is unexplainable. There are actually things that we can be sure of when a person dies and is explainable by modern science: what happens to the physical body.
Through forensic studies, it has been made clear what happens to the body when a person dies. These changes in the physical body can give valuable information to experts to determine the time of death or what has happened in some cases where the cause of death is put into question.
The following are things that happen after the body dies:
Stage One: Pallor Mortis (Paleness of Death)
When every vital bodily function ceases or fails, a person is considered as clinically dead. When death occurs, the hearts stop beating which causes the blood in the body to stop circulating and remain stagnant. Gravity then causes the blood to sink down into the lower parts of the body. Without the blood to give color, the body turns pale. Pallor Mortis occur immediately after death and could be a good indicator that death happened more than 30 minutes ago.Stage Two: Algor Mortis (Coldness of Death)
The body then immediately cools down until it reaches room temperature. This is also called the ‘death chill’.Stage Three: Rigor Mortis (Stiffness of Death)
Without the heart pumping, blood coagulates in the veins, arteries and capillaries, causing the entire body to stiffen due to chemical changes in the muscles. Rigor mortis sets in around two to six hours after death.Stage Four: Livor Mortis (Hypostasis)
As the blood settles in the lower part of the body after death, the heavy red blood cells sinks deeper into the skin causing a purplish red discoloration. Livor Mortis starts 20-30 minutes after death but can only be visible toafter about two hours.Stage Five: Putrefaction
Putrefaction refers directly to the breaking down of protein in the body after death. A few days after death, bacteria start to consume the body. The putrefying body gives off a sulfuric gas with a horrific smell, similar to rotten eggs. This gas also builds up inside the body, causing the corpse to expand, the eyes to be pushed out of their sockets and forces the tongue out of the mouth, and the diaphragm to bloat.Putrefaction can be delayed by embalming. Most funeral plans covers this service.
Stage Six: Decomposition
Decomposition can be referring to as the process wherein organic substances, such as our body, are broken down into simpler matter. There are still much to learn about how decomposition actually takes place among human and the factors that affects it. But forensic experts are looking at expanding their knowledge about it to better help improve post-mortem interval determination.Stage Seven: Skeletonization
Skeletonization refers to the final stage of death, during which the last vestiges of the soft tissues of a corpse or carcass have decayed or dried to the point that the skeleton is exposed.It is just odd that no matter what journey we all take, how long our last will goes on for, what funeral plans we avail, or even if we find the questions we are asking during our lifetime, we, or at least our bodies, will all eventually come to the same end and we will all return to the Earth.
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