Ethical Dilemma: Brain Death
Brain Death – An Islamic Perspective
Prof. Ibrahim B. Syed
President
Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.
Louisville, Kentucky
E-Mail: President@irfi.org
Website: WWW.IRFI.ORG Terri Schiavo, a white female of Roman Catholic faith was born on 3rd December 1963 in Philadelphia, PA. She married Michael on 10-11-84.
Terri Schiavo entered a vegetative state in 1990 after adopting an "iced tea diet" (related to her bulimia), resulting in a disastrous potassium deficiency that caused her heart to stop. She suffered cardiac arrest on 25 February 1990 early morning and heart beat was revived after some delay. By the time her heart was revived she suffered irreversible brain damage. (WHEN THE HEART STOPPED, THE BRAIN DID NOT GET THE BLOOD SUPPLY WHICH NOURISHES THE BRAIN WITH GLUCOSE, OXYGEN AND MINERALS. There is a popular belief that the brain "dies" after 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen. In some cases it may take 10 to 16 minutes. Within four minutes of the blood supply to the brain ceasing, the central nervous system is irreversibly damaged.). She lived in different stages of unconsciousness and long considered in a ‘persistent vegetative state’ (PVP), in a Pinellas Park, Florida hospice. Severe brain damage which does not involve the brain stem may result in a persistent vegetative state. These patients breathe spontaneously, open and close their eyes, swallow and make facial grimaces. However, they show no behavioral evidence of awareness. In this persistent vegetative state she remained the last fifteen years of her life. Neurological tests indicated that her cerebral cortex was principally liquid. The electroencephalogram (EEG) of someone who is brain dead shows no electrical activity, and an injection of mild radioactive isotopes into the brain reveals the absolute absence of blood flow. Death is now accepted as meaning brain stem death or brain death. The brain stem is a small area of the brain which controls respiration (breathing). If this
Prof. Ibrahim B. Syed
President
Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.
Louisville, Kentucky
E-Mail: President@irfi.org
Website: WWW.IRFI.ORG Terri Schiavo, a white female of Roman Catholic faith was born on 3rd December 1963 in Philadelphia, PA. She married Michael on 10-11-84.
Terri Schiavo entered a vegetative state in 1990 after adopting an "iced tea diet" (related to her bulimia), resulting in a disastrous potassium deficiency that caused her heart to stop. She suffered cardiac arrest on 25 February 1990 early morning and heart beat was revived after some delay. By the time her heart was revived she suffered irreversible brain damage. (WHEN THE HEART STOPPED, THE BRAIN DID NOT GET THE BLOOD SUPPLY WHICH NOURISHES THE BRAIN WITH GLUCOSE, OXYGEN AND MINERALS. There is a popular belief that the brain "dies" after 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen. In some cases it may take 10 to 16 minutes. Within four minutes of the blood supply to the brain ceasing, the central nervous system is irreversibly damaged.). She lived in different stages of unconsciousness and long considered in a ‘persistent vegetative state’ (PVP), in a Pinellas Park, Florida hospice. Severe brain damage which does not involve the brain stem may result in a persistent vegetative state. These patients breathe spontaneously, open and close their eyes, swallow and make facial grimaces. However, they show no behavioral evidence of awareness. In this persistent vegetative state she remained the last fifteen years of her life. Neurological tests indicated that her cerebral cortex was principally liquid. The electroencephalogram (EEG) of someone who is brain dead shows no electrical activity, and an injection of mild radioactive isotopes into the brain reveals the absolute absence of blood flow. Death is now accepted as meaning brain stem death or brain death. The brain stem is a small area of the brain which controls respiration (breathing). If this
References: 1. http://www.nndb.com/people/435/000026357/ 2. " Medical Ethics Questions From the Audience During the Medical Ethics Symposium at ISNA Convention, 1997 and answers by Dr. Hassan Hathout and compiled by Dr. Shahid Athar