During the twentieth century the primary causes of death in the United States changed. In the 1800s and early 1900s, infectious (communicable) diseases such as influenza, tuberculosis, and diphtheria were the leading causes of death. These have been replaced by chronic diseases; heart disease, cancer (malignant neoplasms), and stroke (cerebrovascular diseases) were the three leading causes of deat…
During the twentieth century in the United States, the process of dying shifted from the familiar surroundings of home to the hospital. While hospitalization ensures that the benefits of modern medicine are readily available, many patients dread leaving the comfort of their homes and losing, to some extent, control over their end-of-life decisions. Between 1989 and 1994, in an effort to "im…
Life-sustaining treatments, also called life support, can take over many functions of an ailing body. Under normal conditions, when a patient suffers from a treatable illness, life support is a temporary measure used only until the body can function on its own. The ongoing debate about prolonging life-sustaining treatments concerns the incurably ill and permanently unconscious. Cardiopulmonary res…
Severe damage to the brain can cause a vegetative state. This state is characterized by a complete lack of awareness of self and the environment, but the patient retains waking and sleeping cycles. Patients have been known to recover from vegetative states after a few days or weeks; however, when loss of cognition lasts more than a few weeks, the patient is said to be in a persistent vegetative st…
Most donated organs and tissues are transplanted from people who have died as a result of brain death. Once death is pronounced, the body is kept on mechanical support (if possible) to maintain the organs until it is determined whether the person will be a donor. Organ transplantation has come a long way since the first kidney was transplanted from one identical twin to another in 1954. The introd…
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