The process of dying kicks off just a fortnight before the heart stops beating for the final time, an expert has claimed.
Seamus Coyle, an honorary research fellow at the University of Liverpool, recently discussed the final days before death in an article for The Conversation.
He outlined how our ability to do simple tasks, such as walking and sleeping, become increasingly difficult during the days leading up to the heart ceasing to function.
Mr Coyle claims that as our days grow shorter, our ability to swallow food and drink deteriorates in a process which he refers to as ‘actively dying’, as reported in the Express.
He wrote: "As an expert on palliative care, I think there is a process to dying that happens two weeks before we pass. During this time, people tend to become less well.
“They typically struggle to walk and become sleepier – managing to stay awake for shorter and shorter periods.
“Towards the last days of life, the ability to swallow tablets or consume food and drinks eludes them.
“It is around this time that we say people are ‘actively dying’, and we usually think this means they have two to three days to live.
“A number of people, however, will go through this entire phase within a day.
“And some people can actually stay at the cusp of death for nearly a week before they die, something which usually is extremely distressing for families.
“So there are different things going on with different people and we cannot predict them.”
What actually goes on in the body at the moment of death is largely unknown, but some studies predict a rush of chemicals are released from the brain.
These include endorphins, which can induce euphoric feelings in a person.
Mr Coyle said: “The actual moment of death is tricky to decipher. But a yet unpublished study suggests that, as people get closer to death, there is an increase in the body’s stress chemicals.
“For people with cancer, and maybe others, too, inflammatory markers go up.
“These are the chemicals that increase when the body is fighting an infection.
“In general, it seems like people’s pain declines during the dying process.
“We don’t know why that is – it could be related to endorphins. Again, no research has yet been done on this.
“Ultimately, every death is different – and you can’t predict who is going to have a peaceful death. I think some of those I have seen die didn’t benefit from a rush of feel-good chemicals.
“I can think of a number of younger people in my care, for example, who found it difficult to accept that they were dying.
“They had young families and never settled during the dying process.”
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