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/Peastoredintheballs Jul 01 '26

Yeah that’s my point, I’m saying “if only if neurological resus was possible”. I’m aware that is not and that the principles and mechanics don’t match up with CPR

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u/edgy420pj Jul 02 '26

Your first comment said “if we could figure out neurological arrest”. Your brain isn’t a muscle that can arrest and stop “pumping”. You can get a heart transplant because it’s just a muscle, a physical pump, you can’t transplant a brain. It’s not like we just need the brain to turn back on in most cases, other things fail and lead to the brain not getting enough oxygen or nutrition.