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A Medical Explanation of the Near-Death Phenomenon: Full of Mystery!

  • dev_kamboja
  • (updated )
  • 5 min read
A Medical Explanation of the Near-Death Phenomenon: Full of Mystery!

The mystery of "mati suri" (apparent death followed by revival) continues to raise many questions in people's minds. Many link these events to mystical causes. In fact, in the medical world, such cases have occurred often and are no longer considered strange or unfamiliar.

This phenomenon refers to situations where a person has been pronounced dead but suddenly comes back to life after a certain period. The signs are not much different from those of someone who has truly died: the pulse is absent, the heart stops beating, breathing ceases, and body temperature drops.

Factors That Cause Mati Suri

Although it may sound strange, this phenomenon has its own explanation in the medical world. There are several factors that can cause a person who has died to return to life. In some cases, the pronouncement of death can even be made hours before signs of life appear. Here are the explanations:

1. Hypothermia

Hypothermia is a condition in which the human body temperature drops drastically to around 35 degrees Celsius. When this condition occurs, the sufferer may experience several effects, such as a weakened pulse, a slowed heartbeat, and very minimal breathing.

Hypothermia can indeed leave a person in a very weak state. As a result, the body's vital organs appear to have stopped functioning and cannot be detected. This is why medical personnel may pronounce the patient dead. However, once proper treatment is given, the patient can come back to life.

This is what gives rise to the perception of mati suri. In reality, the person was still alive. Their vital organs were only weakened, so medical staff were unable to detect any signs of life.

2. A Sleep Phase Occurs

Sudden death situations like these can happen very suddenly. In some cases, family members of a person who has been pronounced dead have already called an event organizer funeral service to arrange all the funeral procedures for their family. Surprisingly, however, the person then came back to life.

In the medical world, this occurrence is caused by a sleep phase with the condition of Rapid Eye Movement (REM). REM is the state in which a person experiences dreaming. During this phase, the person feels paralysis in the major muscles, while their breathing becomes faster than normal.

This makes hallucinations possible, because throughout the episode they can still hear the people around them. Their brain remains awake, and only the body feels stiff, as if unable to move. This is what triggers the sense of a mati suri death.

No one can predict this phenomenon. Grief is indeed painful, but what you can do, apart from paying your final respects to the deceased, is seek support. If you live in the Jabodetabek area, you can use Depok funeral services, Funeral services in Jakarta and Alam Sutera funeral services to help you.

3. Hyperkalemia Develops

The third cause of mati suri is the development of hyperkalemia in the body. Hyperkalemia is a condition in which the level of the electrolyte potassium rises drastically and becomes too high above its
normal level. The effects of this condition can impact vital organs such as the heart, lungs, and brain nerves.

If it is not treated properly, it can lead to cardiac arrest and coma. Usually, when a patient is in a coma, the doctor will not immediately pronounce them dead.

CPR will be performed first, but afterwards it will pause for about 10 to 15 minutes for observation. If there is no change in the patient's vital condition and the signs of death persist, the doctor will then declare the patient dead.

4. Air Trapped in the Chest Cavity and Lungs

Of the various cases of mati suri, this cause is found more often. Usually, when a person experiences cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, or a coma, medical staff will immediately perform CPR to restore the function of the patient's vital organs.

However, this does not mean the treatment has no effect at all, because the patient may experience air trapped in the chest cavity and lungs. This can halt blood circulation in the patient, so medical staff often assume the patient has died.

After some time, however, the air pressure gradually decreases and the patient may respond by coughing, regaining consciousness from the faint, or moving again. Through this event, the person can be categorized as having experienced a temporary death.

5. Delayed Effect of Medication

Did you know that mati suri can also occur because a medication does not take effect immediately, that is, it is delayed? This cause is also related to the CPR performed by medical staff on people who are dying.

Besides pumping the chest to return the vital organs to normal function, doctors also administer special medications. However, almost all medications spread through the body at different rates. Some are slow, while others are fast.

The drugs given during CPR also take some time to reach the heart and produce their effect. However, the effect of these drugs is also influenced by the amount of trapped air.

If air builds up to a high level, blood will also be blocked, and medication will not be able to reach the heart. If this process goes on for a long time, the patient may experience a momentary death phenomenon. Then, once the build-up of air drops low enough, the medication will react immediately.

6. Carbon Dioxide Levels in the Body Rise

Every human body contains carbon dioxide. However, if these levels become too high, they can have a fairly fatal effect on the body's chemical balance. People who experience this are usually those who have survived a heart attack.

However, while this is happening, brain function stops for roughly 30 seconds. A person who experiences it may consciously be aware of what is happening around them for 3 minutes after the heart stops. If they are helped, they can come back to life.

Do You Know the Medical Explanation of Near-Death Experiences?

From the explanation above, it can be concluded that a near-death experience is not a mystical event but has a medical cause. This brief period of grief may be quite confusing for the family, because they have to arrange a funeral, which requires a lot of preparation.

There is no need to worry, because there is Kamboja that can help you. Kamboja offers funeral protection packages that you can choose according to your needs. Through this service, whenever grief arrives, the family does not need to struggle with arranging the needs of the mourning process so that it runs smoothly. Contact Kamboja's contact now to get more information.

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dev_kamboja

The Kamboja team writes guides on bereavement, funeral arrangements and funeral planning to help families in Indonesia.

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