Thousands are currently engaged in solving the problem of death.
That last sounds like a pleasant way to go, comparativelya peaceful winding-down.
But what exactly does it look like?
Illustration: Angelica Alzona/Gizmodo
What does it really mean to die from old age?
For this weeksGiz Asks, we reached out to a number of experts to find out.
This article was originally published on August 3, 2020.
But nobody ever actually dies of old age.
There are always other pre-existing diseasesor new diseasesthat cause the deaths in question.
Illness can present in different ways in older people.
But everyone dies the same way: their heart stops.
Thats the last step.
I train my students to think: whats the cause before that?
Whats the cause before that?
As a palliative care doctor, I take care of critically ill people, many of whom are dying.
But the reality of our dying process is that it almost never happens that way.
We just dont really have access to opioids in most of the world.
In some ways, the most natural way to die is in horrible amounts of pain.
Our goal, then, should be to alleviate suffering as much as possible.
Well… you cant.
Thats a picturesque notion, and indeed theres plenty of conventional wisdom out there about dying of old age.
Its what many people want to do, and what many of my patients have a go at do.
But theres really no such thing as dying of old age.
But dont blame old age.
My grandmother, for instance, died at the ripe old age of 103.
That raises an interesting question: what do you want to die of?
I still dont have an answer).
If you manage to dodge all of the life-threatening illnesses that the world throws at us, whats left?
Well, my grandmothers story is one answer to that question.
She did everything right, but doing everything right only gets you so far.
And thats a difference to keep in mind.
And manyand perhaps mostsucceed in dying suddenly, in their sleep.
Many who die in their 90s or beyond have made their peace with death.
Theyve done what they need to do and said what they need to say.
Maybe theyve been ready for years.
They just make their peace and sign off.
If dying of old age means anything at all, its that willingness to say goodbye and move on.
Interestingly, most people do not fear death itself, but rather the process of dying.
What does determine differences in the dying process is how quickly the body shuts down.
People who die in minutes to hours are unconscious and have erratic breathing patterns.
In summary, death is a natural process and usually peaceful.
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