As the saying goes, the only certainties in life are death and taxes - and an expert has revealed an extreme way to ward off the latter even if a patient is clinically dead.
When a living being is close to death it goes through two stages of death.
First comes clinical death when the heart stops beating, starving the body of blood and oxygen.
It is followed around six minutes later by biological death when brain cells begin to die.
However just because someone’s heart stopped beating it does not mean all is lost.
Resuscitation is possible during the clinical death stage and doctors have devised ways to extend the timeframe to keep people alive.
Dr Zachary Palace, medical director of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale in New York, told Everyday Health plunging a person into a freezing environment could delay biological death.
He added: “The colder the body is, the slower the metabolic rate, so you’re using oxygen up slower and that window may be longer.”
Touchingly, when someone is beyond the point of saving, it is believed hearing is the last sense to go.
As a result people are advised to keep talking to their loved one.
Dr Palace added: “It’s the most passive sense, we encourage families to talk and share their last thoughts, love, and support with their loved ones because even though the blood pressure is dropping and they’re fading out, they can hear what we’re saying.”
Last month experts shared what they believe happens when people die , with one insisting it is “not as bad as we think”.
Science has as of yet been unable to provide an answer to one of life’s great unanswered questions.
Followers of various religions have their own beliefs giving them solace when their loved ones are on their deathbeds.
But it remains the great unknown - and will remain that way until our time is up.
Over the years several experts have given their own beliefs as to what happens at the very end, the Daily Star reports.
Dr Kathryn Mannix, who specialises in palliative and end of life care, gives a fairly upbeat assessment.
She said: “In my humble opinion, dying is probably not as bad as you’re expecting.
“We’ve lost the rich wisdom of normal human dying and it’s time for us to talk about dying and reclaim the wisdom.
“Dying, like giving birth, really is just a process. Gradually people become more tired, more weary.
“As time goes by people sleep more and they’re awake less.”
