Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Cells, Microbes & Viruses => Topic started by: stana on 14/10/2007 19:41:07
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Hey, i was told that when you die, your body just gets rid of everything, spit, mucas, tears. Does all of this happen at the same time? and does it happen at a certain date after death?
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When My mom passed it happened within what seems like second or very short minutes after her death.. when all muscle control and body shut down. she took her last breath and stopped breathing and within such a short time everything drained,,a tear ran down each check, but that was it. her eyes before they came we closed and you could see the secretion around them as if sleep had entered and hardened her eyes closed..I cleaned them a couple times befor e they took her away. well you know what I mean.. I stayed with her.. and held her hand for a while.. a couple hours I think.. Then I called a lady from my church a friend at the time.. she came and together we cleaned my mom and bathed her on the bed changing the soiled linens and cleaning her body. combing her hair... I laid out her clothes . It was a very gentle process and was done with respect and delicacy and love... When we were done cleaning. we dressed her in her burial clothing something cheerful sky blue... then I sat with her and held her hand some more... and waited for the mortuary men to come take her to the funeral home.
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I think this happens at a stage known as "Putrefaction".
At this stage of death the bacteria are breaking down your tissue and cells, this has the effect of creating a gas build-up inside the body (hydrogen sulphide and methanet). The gas creates pressure and this pressure then forces the fluids out.
This happens roughly four to ten days after death.
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Paul does that mean there is much more released days later after I initially cleaned her up! OH dear.. I did not know that or I would have gone back and cleaned again before dressing her... They did not tell us that would happen again. I assumed the small amounts we seen with the exception of the bowels and urine which were a lot,were it! Done... Oh my...
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So what happens like with my mom when she passed as she definitely defecated and her bladder emptied. Like I said only a tear down each cheek.. is this called something else??
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Putrefaction, is a stage of decomposition. I have never witnessed someone die, so i don't know what happens at that time. just what happens during decomp.
This would not have happened to your mum, Karen. so no need to worry, there are procedures carried out in the mortuary / morgue. I don't think i will go in to that though.
As an aside, my mother used to work in a mortuary.
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My mom was not embalmed. She did not want any more chemicals in her body after her death as she felt it was chemical that sent her there to begin with. That is why I wondered. So do they take care to clean them again.... sorry your right not a good subject.. I am getting teary again.. skip it! Thanks paul!
It takes a caring person to do that work.. Kudos to your Mum.
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A person about to have a stroke often feels like they need to go to the toilet to empty bowels. A lot of stroke victims are found in the toilet according to a friend who is a nurse. I have also held a hand when a person died. I was alone with her. She also had two carrier bags full of toxic drugs which were taken back to the chemist who earned his money handing them out knowing full well that they were going to kill the taker.
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Why were they taken back to the pharmacist? We are always instructed to flush them down the loo after the death of a terminal patient! I have worked with several patients in hospice situations because I just can,and we have always disposed of the drugs being used, ie morphine etc. It is hard for the families to do this sometimes as they just see the value of the drug and say but they were so expensive,.. but Tripplicates are dangerous used the wrong way and in the hands of those who really know nothing of their uses! We have always flushed and I know not of any local Pharmacies that will reuse old perscriptions..
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I don't know whether they are reused or not but think the government asked people to return them to prevent them getting into the wrong hands. IMO wrong hands is anyone daft enough to take a cocktail containing 5 or more drugs, the interations of which have as many permiatations as 5 numbers on the lottery
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Yes that can be horrible and so dangerous!
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A person about to have a stroke often feels like they need to go to the toilet to empty bowels.
A lot of stroke victims are found in the toilet according to a friend who is a nurse.
Yes people die "on the toilet", however it is the process of defecating which causes heart failure,
as they are effectively performing the Valsalva maneuver. In these cases their cause of death would be heart failure, not stroke.
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=6250
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are not supposed to flush medications down the toilet. Also, the reason you are supposed to return your "meds" to the pharmacist, is so that they can be safely disposed of, and to stop family members sharing medication that they have not been prescribed.
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Well here for the last 20 years , working with Hospice workers, we were always told to dispose of the medications down the toilet...Flush them away!
Because of exactly the reason you state.
As a hospice worker, that is what we did! now it has been soma few years for me, but as of just recently with a sick acquaintance that was still the procedure. It may be it just differs from place to place.. Who knows I just know that that was what we were instructed to do with the meds, especially the tripplicates..etc.
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when both my grandpa and my friend's mom died the coroner took the medicine. they didn't allow it to be left in the house. i know with my grandpa's they tested it to make sure that he wasn't given the wrong medication. could have been because he got refills a couple hours before he died though
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Well here for the last 20 years , working with Hospice workers, we were always told to dispose of the medications down the toilet...Flush them away!
Because of exactly the reason you state.
As a hospice worker, that is what we did! now it has been soma few years for me, but as of just recently with a sick acquaintance that was still the procedure. It may be it just differs from place to place.. Who knows I just know that that was what we were instructed to do with the meds, especially the tripplicates..etc.
As Americans are becoming more aware of the environment and the need to preserve our resources, proper disposal of unused or expired medications has become a growing issue. The most common choices are to throw old medications in the trash or flush them down the toilet. There are serious risks to both methods, however.
Throwing medications in the trash may lead to misuse or unintentional use -- often by children or pets, who may get into the trash and accidentally ingest the medications. Flushing medication down the toilet can be just as dangerous. Researchers have found that all drugs have the potential to affect microorganisms in the sewer system, whether they're flushed down the toilet or drain. There's also a concern that water treatment facilities cannot properly filter out the chemical compounds flushed medications may leave behind. This is especially true for antibiotics and hormone replacement medications, such as estrogen.
To protect the environment and avoid medication misuse or accidental ingestion, the Environmental Protection Agency encourages states and communities to provide facilities equipped for proper medication disposal. For more information or to find a facility near you, contact your local or state government.
If your community does not have a household waste collection facility, find out if a local pharmacy will accept your expired or unused drugs. If you must dispose of a medication on your own, keep these tips in mind:
Avoid flushing the medication down the toilet or drain. Doing so may harm the environment and destroy vital water organisms. This is especially important with septic tanks or well systems, which would have a much higher risk for harm than larger community systems.
https://www.healthforums.com/library/1,1258,article~10780,00.html
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Thanks Paul.. I will look into what the procedure here is these days as I also have some meds to dispose of.. Thanks for follow up information!
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Thanks Paul.. I will look into what the procedure here is these days as I also have some meds to dispose of.. Thanks for follow up information!
karen, politely i say "bugger the local procedure". Dumping any meds down the drain/toilet is bad. like drugs, don't do it, pop them in to your local pharmacy
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Thanks Paul.. I will look into what the procedure here is these days as I also have some meds to dispose of.. Thanks for follow up information!
karen, politely i say "bugger the local procedure". Dumping any meds down the drain/toilet is bad. like drugs, don't do it, pop them in to your local pharmacy
Dude relax...LOL That's why I said thankyou!! I don't intend on dumping them... LOL.. Hugs You!
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What I was trying to say was that I will also look into seeing what they do these days here.. I am curios as to weather they have adopted those policies also.. I like the idea.. It sounds like a safer alternative!
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I do agree that sending drugs down the toilette, although likely to be the safest and most convenient option if one or two people do it, doing it en mass, with what are dangerous chemicals, can be a problem.
At very least, I would have thought that boiling them (maybe in a microwave) to denature any proteins would reduce the impact of many of the drugs (this will probably not effect many of the non-protein based drugs, but these probably have less of an impact on the environment).
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OK I have called our local health department and the pharmacies. They have no programs in place to accept old medications and will not take them. They said they are working on tryiing to set something like that up, but there is nothing at the moment perhaps in a couple years he said! LOL...
Anyway here is what my pharmacist said our procedure is:
1= get a large coffee can
2= pour in some water and alcohol
3= add the medications stir up and allow to set until disolved..
4= Then I am to add either coffee grounds or cat litter to the mix and stir it up.
5= then put lid on can and thoroughly seal container with duct tape and put it in the trash!
Seems very odd, but I called many pharmacy's and it is policy straight across the board!
So they will not accept them here still AS OF November 23rd 2007 at 5:o6 PM. LOL... It made me really curious..
He said the cofee or cat litter kind of filters it and absorbs it all but it seems to meodd. Does this break down the chemicals?
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Where did you go Paul! Do you think this breaks down the chemicals in the meds!
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Where did you go Paul! Do you think this breaks down the chemicals in the meds!
sorry, i have a very short attention span.
ermmm, i have an idea why the cat litter is used but i'm not too sure i'm right. I think it may just spoil the meds in some way not actually break them down. If it is used cat litter then there may be some reaction.
I would think it is more likely that the alcohol is playing the major part, but heck i am no chemist...in fact, chemistry is one subject (among many) i totally suck at. I would suggest that you post it as a question in the chemistry section...how does alcohol and cat litter make the disposal of medication safe? or something like that.
sorry i can be of no further help.
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Its OK nothing to be sorry for!..The pharmacist says that is our only option theses days .. I am glad you said something as it has been several years since I did that kind of work and disposal has changed, but they refuse to take them back at the pharmacy.. and the garbage until it has been properly handled as he stated above! Thanks Paul!