What is Meant by the Terms Death and Dying?

It is inconceivable that any person who has lived or will ever live has never
experienced death or dying in some kind personal context. We have all lost
close family members, and friends, or we have supported somebody who has.
Our definitions and perceptions of death and dying are inextricably linked to
our spiritual and religious (or lack of) beliefs.
In essence from these perspectives death or dying are seen in terms of the
separation of the physical from the metaphysical soul it contains. From a
purely scientific point of view advances in medical technology, (in particular
those pertaining to palliative and/or hospice care) have made it even more
difficult to establish when a person has died. In very broad and detached terms
all of our deaths can be broken down into three types:
Deaths through violence against the person: This covers deaths dues to
murder and suicide but also includes those avoidable deaths from poverty,
conflict and preventable disease.
Unintentional deaths: As the term suggests this covers bodily injuries caused
by vehicle and other accidents or those sustained in the workplace.
Natural death: This covers death from old age and /or incurable disease.
Old age and disease
In human societies death from old age is a relatively new phenomenon in
Medieval England the average life span was between 30 and 35 years old.
However, it is important to state that this figure is skewed by very high infant
mortality rates.
Another contributory factor (at least in high-income countries) to higher
average lifespans is the development of better medicines and the
implementation of public health programs over the last several hundred years.
The trade-off is that on average in the industrialised world we are living longer,
but are more likely to be killed by:
Degenerative conditions such as Alzheimers disease.
Coronary and pulmonary disease.
Strokes and heart attacks.
Cancer of which there are over 200 different types.
Genetic conditions such as Huntingdons disease.
Death and oxygen
An individual and/or belief system can frame a definition of death and dying in
a variety of ways. One point is however incontrovertible; humans need to
breathe in oxygen from the atmosphere. Every single breath we take contains
molecules of oxygen gas that are transported around the body by the blood
stream and then passed to every single living cell.
In the cell, respiration occurs which enables oxygen to chemically combine
with glucose producing energy (in the form of a carrier molecule called
Adenosine Tri-phosphate) water and carbon dioxide (CO2). The CO2 is a waste
product and is removed by gaseous exchange in the alveoli of the lungs and
replaced by the next load of oxygen molecules.
We take our first breath when we are born and from then by taking an average
of 14 breaths per minute for the rest of our lives we can provide every single
living cell with the oxygen it needs to undertake aerobic respiration. In other
words and no matter what type of death we may experience the dying process
starts at the point where we can no longer independently get enough oxygen
to all parts of the body as and when it is needed.
For cognitive organisms such as human beings, the terms death and dying are
associated with intense emotions and / or spiritual and religious questions.
Although it is something that we generally never consciously think about or
discuss for any more time that is necessary, death will happen to all of us.
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