Doctor explains what happens and what it feels like when you die

dailystar.co.uk:

the Express.Seamus Coyle, the honorary research fellow at the University of Liverpool, spoke out about the process of dying in an article for The Conversation.He said: “As an expert on palliative care, I think there is a process to dying that happens two weeks before we pass.

During this time, people tend to become less well.“They typically struggle to walk and become sleepier – managing to stay awake for shorter and shorter periods.“Towards the last days of life, the ability to swallow tablets or consume food and drinks eludes them.“It is around this time that we say people are ‘actively dying’, and we usually think this means they have two to three days to live.“A number of people, however, will go through this entire phase within a day.“And some people can actually stay at the cusp of death for nearly a week before they die, something which usually is extremely distressing for families“So there are different things going on with different people and we cannot predict them.”What actually goes on in the body at the moment of death is largely unknown, but some studies predict a rush of chemicals is released from the brain.These include endorphins, which can induce euphoric feelings in a person.Mr Coyle said: “The actual moment of death is tricky to decipher.

But a yet unpublished study suggests that, as people get closer to death, there is an increase in the body’s stress chemicals.“For people with cancer, and maybe others, too, inflammatory markers go up.“These are the chemicals that increase when the body is fighting an infection.“In general, it seems like people’s pain declines during the dying process.“We don’t know why that is – it could be related to endorphins.