Dr. Sam Parnia researches the experiences of cardiac arrest patients in the time between when their hearts stop and when they are brought back to life. Parnia thinks of these experiences as actual-death experiences as opposed to near-death experiences.
Two other studies of NDE in cardiac arrest were
published from the US. One study of 1595 people
who had been admitted to a cardiac unit over a 30-
month period, also found that the incidence of NDE
increased with the severity of the cardiac disease:
only 1% of those admitted with stable cardiac disease
reported NDEs, this increased to 10% of those
with cardiac arrest. Those who had had an NDE
were no different from those who had not in terms
of social or demographic variables, cognitive function
or degree of heart disease.11 Another US study
found that 23% of cardiac arrest survivors had an
NDE and that again those with NDEs became transformed
in a positive manner after 6 months
In acute myocardial infarction the duration of cardiac arrest (VF) on the CCU is usually 60-120 seconds, on the cardiac ward 2-5 minutes, and in out-of-hospital arrest it usually exceeds 5-10 minutes. Only during threshold testing of internal defibrillators or during electro physiologic stimulation studies will the duration of cardiac arrest hardly exceed 30-60 seconds.
From these studies we know that in our prospective study of patients that have been clinically dead (VF on the ECG) no electric activity of the cortex of the brain (flat EEG) must have been possible, but also the abolition of brain stem activity like the loss of the corneareflex, fixed dilated pupils and the loss of the gag reflex is a clinical finding in those patients. However, patients with an NDE can report a clear consciousness, in which cognitive functioning, emotion, sense of identity, and memory from early childhood was possible, as well as perception from a position out and above their “dead” body. Because of the sometimes reported and verifiable out-of -body experiences, like the case of the dentures reported in our study, we know that the NDE must happen during the period of unconsciousness, and not in the first or last second of this period.
So we have to conclude that NDE in our study was experienced during a transient functional loss of all functions of the cortex and of the brainstem. It is important to mention that there is a well documented report of a patient with constant registration of the EEG during cerebral surgery for an gigantic cerebral aneurysm at the base of the brain, operated with a body temperature between 10 and 15 degrees, she was put on the heart-lung machine, with VF, with all blood drained from her head, with a flat line EEG, with clicking devices in both ears, with eyes taped shut, and this patient experienced an NDE with an out-of-body experience, and all details she perceived and heard could later be verified. (8)
Michael Shermer states that, in reality, all experience is mediated and produced by the brain, and that so-called paranormal phenomena like out-of body experiences are nothing more than neuronal events. The study of patients with NDE, however, clearly shows us that consciousness with memories, cognition, with emotion, self-identity, and perception out and above a life-less body is experienced during a period of a non-functioning brain (transient pancerebral anoxia). And focal functional loss by inhibition of local cortical regions happens by “stimulation” of those regions with electricity (photons) or with magnetic fields (photons), resulting sometimes in out-of-body states.
Our study, done at Seattle Children's Hospital concluded that near-death experiences are in fact the dying experience. We studied 26 critically ill children and found that 24 of them reported being conscious while dying, and having some sort of conscious experience. Typically that involved the perception of a loving light, a "light that had good things in it".
We studied over 100 control children who were also treated with medications, had a lack of oxygen to their brain, were intubated and mechanically ventilated in the scary intensive care unit, and who also thought they were going to death. They, however, were seriously ill and not truly near death. None of these patients reported being conscious while dying or having a spiritual experience.
Abstract: In this article, we present the results of a literature survey on case
reports of the unexpected return of mental clarity and memory shortly before
death, which we have called “terminal lucidity.” We focus specifically on
terminal lucidity in mental disorders, of which we have found 81 case
references. Of these, we were able to retrieve 49 case reports, most of which
had been recorded before 1849. Thereafter, comparatively few reports of
terminal lucidity have been published. Some more recent publications referred to
terminal lucidity in patients suffering from schizophrenia and dementia. We
draw parallels and distinctions between terminal lucidity and remissions
attributable to febrile illness in neurosyphilis. We recommend in-depth
studies on the psychopathology and neuropathology involved in terminal
lucidity, since they might enable the development of both improved therapies
and a better understanding of unresolved aspects of cognition and memory
Key Words: Terminal illness, memory, dementia, remission,
(J Nerv Ment Dis 2009;197: 942–944)
Case studies and accounts of deathbed experiences witnessed by others in nursing homes sometimes involve the witness having a vision of the dying person leaving her body. Other times, the witness sees unmistakable spiritually charged transformations taking place over the dying individual just before she passes....
Hospital staff witnessing and even sharing (to some degree) crossingover experiences of their dying patients may be more common than typically thought. For example, according to Morse, anthropologist D. Lewis “randomly interviewed 100 London nurses and found that 35 percent reported experiences with dead patients, ranging from vague feelings to visual and auditory hallucinations.”
In another example, in The Near-Death Experience: A Reader, Lee Worth Baily and Jenny L. Yates talk about how one nurse reported witnessing a patient cross over and seeing something “as if the patient were surrounded by a bright glow.” She added, “That was a phenomenon she had sometimes observed in the dying.”
Some hospital and emergency room staff are witness to their patients' deathbed visions just as they cross over. Wills-Brandon, tells of one doctor describing an interesting case where one of his patients crossed over and seemed to regress to a childhood age just moments before death, as he seemed to see his own passed-on mother....
It is not uncommon for personnel of medical settings to witness the events surrounding the dying of a patient. It is also not uncommon for them to witness unexplainable phenomena when such events do transpire.
Originally posted by Xaphan
reply to post by VegHead
Mediums never say anything negative. If they said anything negative they wouldn't have any customers, would they?
People go to mediums for the same reason that people go to church, because they want assurance. They are scared to death of their own existence and need somewhere to suck their thumb.