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In law, medicine, and statistics, cause of death is an official determination of the conditions resulting in a human's death, which may be recorded on a death certificate. A cause of death is determined by a medical examiner. In rare cases, an autopsy needs to be performed by a pathologist.
The human skull is used universally as a symbol of death. [1] Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. [2] The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose shortly after death. [3] Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms.
Thanatology is the scientific study of death and the losses brought about as a result. It investigates the mechanisms and forensic aspects of death, such as bodily changes that accompany death and the postmortem period, as well as wider psychological and social aspects related to death. It is primarily an interdisciplinary study offered as a ...
When investigating a death, forensic pathologists: perform autopsies when required; may be appointed as coroners to investigate cases of suspicious death; determine the cause of death and all other factors that relate to the body directly; may attend crime scenes; frequently testify in court. [4]
An unnatural cause of death results from an external cause, typically including homicides, suicides, accidents, medical errors, alcohol intoxications and drug overdoses. [6] [7] Jurisdictions differ in how they categorize and report unnatural deaths, including level of detail and whether they are considered a single category with subcategories, or separate top-level categories.
Differences in operational definitions of death have obvious medicolegal implications (in medical jurisprudence and medical law). Traditionally, both the legal and medical communities determined death through the permanent end of certain bodily functions in clinical death, especially respiration and heartbeat.
An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, [Note 1] or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death; or the exam may be performed to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present for research or educational purposes.
This subcategory is for articles dealing with the scientific (biological) and medical aspects of death in human beings. Medicine portal; Subcategories.