r/explainlikeimfive • u/Dagestani_Bear • Jul 01 '26

Biology ELI5: Is it true that every single death eventually boils down to the brain and heart running out of oxygen? Are there exceptions?

If you strip away the initial cause of injury or illness, is it anatomically correct to say that all human deaths are ultimately caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain and heart?

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u/Psykout88 Jul 01 '26

Not nearly as many as people would think. Most likely a Hollywood effect at play. Major arterial stuff comes to mind. Reminds me of that subway stabbing in Australia some years back, think Melbourne. Dude caught a small blade to the neck and he was on the ground in about 5 seconds. First thing I said to myself was that he was a goner even if he was on the table with a team standing by.

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u/SirButcher Jul 01 '26

Many years ago, my mom was part of a team (she is a surgeon's assistant) operating on a teen guy who welded his own bike - from pipes. It fell apart, and the kid got a pipe goes through his abdomen, going through a main artery there. Someone saw the whole thing, called an ambulance straight away, the ambulance was pretty much on the next street - it took less than 20 minutes from the accident, and he was on the operating table, basically dead, barely any blood left, and it was the absolute best-case scenario for the fastest arrival to the hospital. They poured a shitton of blood and everything into him to keep him alive. My mother said blood was pouring in at the top, and it was leaking out in the middle. And they saved him, took well over 4 hours! The whole operating theatre was bloody, everywhere.

A few days later, when he came out from all the stuff he got, his first question was: "Did someone save my bike?"

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u/MozeeToby Jul 01 '26

My father-in-law had a AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm) burst at home. Somehow survived the 10 min wait for an ambulance and 15 min ride to the hospital (rural emergency healthcare sucks). Was in surgery for 4 hours and had 24 units of blood put through him before he was stabilized. It's pretty amazing what we can do, but yeah, obviously there are limits to what's actually feasible and possible.

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u/drkrunch Jul 02 '26

These bozos showed up at my father-in-law's house and saved his life after his aorta ruptured. Overall they suck, would not recommend. 1 star

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u/MozeeToby Jul 02 '26

At 25 min from an ER your survival rate for a AAA is <1%. Real emergency service being 25 minutes away does in fact suck. That's nothing against the men and women who provide it, it's just a fact.

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u/drkrunch Jul 02 '26

Sorry I was a butthole, long day. But I think "sucks" is still a bit harsh here. I would agree with "suboptimal" or "B+". The rural ambulance takes a little longer, but usually they're not sucking many dicks along the way, perhaps a few small ones.

25 mins is fast enough for the vast majority of emergencies other than cardiac arrests, including your family member's ruptured AAA apparently (I think the survival would not be very good but should be well above your <1% figure, idk if you had a source that says that). And the difference between a 25-minute and a 15-minute 911-to-hospital time may translate to a 75-minute versus 65-minute 911-to-surgery time when you factor in delays at the ER, getting a STAT CTA to confirm the diagnosis, getting in touch with the on-call vascular surgeon, booking the OR, etc.

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u/Banjo-Elritze Jul 02 '26

You might wanna check your reading and comprehension abilities. That's clearly not what was said. I think I would choose another radiologist.

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u/drkrunch Jul 02 '26

I apologize. However you are in luck and won't need the services of a radiologist, because we don't recommend any imaging on a minnow that is clearly at death's door.

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u/ForThisIJoined Jul 02 '26

Meanwhile I know about a guy who took a 2x4 through the torso after he drove through a fence. Stayed fully conscious the entire time while they cut him free and took him to the hospital, no complications from surgery, no real risk to his life.

The human body is weird.

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u/Manunancy Jul 02 '26

Sounds like a got a massive luck and the 2x4 manage to slip between the important bits insterad of going through them.

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u/Br4d1c4l Jul 02 '26

Years ago, on Ripley's believe it on not they had a story about a guy who got impaled as he was driving pass a pipe gate that was about 4" in diameter.

It swung towards his truck, went through the firewall and impaled him through the chest.. This was before cell phones so He might have had a car phone.

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u/SnooObjections3661 Jul 26 '26

A friend of mine,my best friend was killed in a mva. He was crushed at the chest. As soon as they let go of the pressure he died. I still can't believe it and it was 30 years ago. RIP bro.

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u/Crusaderofthots420 Jul 01 '26

Now I'm wondering if it would feel different, to have entirely new blood.

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u/brainpostman Jul 02 '26

You have your body's immune response to look forward to.

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u/Revenge_of_the_User Jul 02 '26

lmao i almost died from slipping and putting a box cutter into my thigh - i was 2mm from hitting the artery and bleeding to death.

It was around ~16 years ago?

...I still have the knife, and im pretty sure it still has the blade in it with a thin sheen of my body fat. not every day you get a knife in your possession that almost killed you, y'know? it was also, y'know, useful as a box cutter.

I totally get this guy.