Here’s What Happens To Your Organs When You Die Copy

1. The muscles immediately relax

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Death is generally perceived to be when your major organs go still. You stop breathing, your heart stops, and the blood stops being pumped around your body. Once this happens, your muscles will start to relax - which means, in most cases, you'll actually piss yourself when you die!

2. Including your eyes

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One other thing that relaxes you might not have considered is your eyelids. In some cultures, it was common to put coins or stones on the eyes after death, and scientists theorize that this might be to prevent the eyelids from staying open at death. By moving them down and placing a coin on them, you ensure that they stay shut once the muscles have relaxed.

3. And your skin

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Your skin also starts to relax and sag as you die - this happens because the blood isn't pumping around your body anymore, and gravity can exert itself on your still body. When this happens, your skin will sag around major bones, like your cheekbones, pelvis, and hip bones, making you look even gaunter.

4. Then, self-digestion starts

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Self-digestion sounds like something that happens when you're alive, right? Well, it doesn't. Actually, this scientific process is when cells begin to be deprived of oxygen. As this happens, they become more and more toxic as there is no oxygen to prevent the creation of these toxins. Enzymes eat the cell membranes, and a chain reaction starts in the body.

5. Your cells release lots of chemicals

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At this point, your cells release a lot of chemicals and toxins through those destroyed membranes. Remember, this is happening only very shortly after your death - and suddenly, you're a chemically-ridden body! This self-digestion, or autolysis, is the first stage of decomposition and means you're really dead.

6. Including your liver and brain

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Your liver and brain also undergo this process. It happens at a faster rate in the liver because there are lots of toxins there already, while in the brain, the presence of water speeds it up. However, all organs in the body will start to break down because of enzymes and the high amount of toxins.

7. But your heart may go on

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However, many scientists believe that the heart may continue to beat and even restart itself after death. In one study, 14% of studied dead patients experienced a stop-and-start of the heart after death, sometimes occurring 30 minutes after they had been declared dead.

8. And you may produce electrical signals still

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Your brain also doesn't die immediately. Before the process of cell breakdown begins, it continues to send electrical signals to the rest of the body - though they won't register them because the cells are dying. In fact, consciousness may still continue up to three minutes after your heart has stopped beating.

9. Your brain may even be aware of death

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This weird quirk of the brain means that you may experience some awareness of death for a short period after you've died. If you're unconscious, of course, this probably won't happen, but in other cases, you may actually be aware that you've died. Lots of patients report near-death experiences when they get saved by doctors, so who's to say what really happens?

10. Your brain will die from the top downwards

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However, at some point, those electrical signals will stop and your heart will stop for good because of the lack of oxygen getting to those cells. Your brain starts to die from the top downwards because the blood is pumped in from the bottom of the brain. When this happens, those cells will start to leak toxins just like the other organs.

11. While your skin will change color slowly

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It's an image that everyone knows from murder shows like CSI - that of a slightly blue-purple corpse. The human body starts to change colour immediately after death, and this happens because as the skin cells erupt, damaged blood vessels spill out. These settle in capillaries and small veins, giving the whole skin a blue twinge.

12. Blood stops flowing

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Typically, once the blood has stopped flowing and your skin has turned colour, it's the point of no return. Your cells are beginning to collapse, and the first stages of decomposition have occurred. At this point, you move into a really important stage of death.

13. Resulting in livor mortis

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Livor mortis occurs when the blood starts to pool at the bottom of your body - usually in your back if you've died while lying down like in a hospital. When this happens, you may get some discoloration in the skin of your back, like bruises. In the world of embalmers, this is referred to as the "postmortem stain".

14. Your body temperature will drop

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You probably also know that once you start to die, your body temperature will drop. Dead bodies are always cold, right? Well, this process starts immediately after death, when your body will start to cool by 1.5 F every hour. It won't necessarily get colder than the outside air, though - the body will just adjust to its environment.

15. And rigor mortis sets in

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Rigor mortis occurs after livor mortis - it's when we really become a dead body. While the muscles began the dying process by relaxing, now they start to get stiff as the proteins in the muscles become locked in place. It's the classic image of a stiff, hard-to-move dead body.

16. Your body stiffens from the top down

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Rigor mortis doesn't just happen across the body at the same time, though. The first things to go are the eyelids (remember the coin trick?), followed by the rest of the face, the jaw, and the neck. Then the stiffness begins to descend down the body.

17. Ending with fingers and toes

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Because your fingers and toes are at your extremities, these will be the last areas to experience rigor mortis, and actually reach peak stiffness (no laughter, please.) Once this happens, all your muscles will be completely locked into the place they were left at when you died (provided nobody's moved you recently after death!)

18. This reaches a peak

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Rigor mortis can take up to 12 hours to completely finish, but this will always depend on your size, physical condition, gender, and even the air temperature outside. If a child dies, they can most times not even experience rigor mortis completely because they are much smaller than an adult.

19. Then, bacteria go wild

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At this point, your body is really a breeding ground for bacteria. If it sounds gross, it's because it is. When we die, our immune system stops working, which usually sorts out any weird cells and bacteria in the body. Without that protection there, bacteria are free to travel around the body.

20. Starting in the gut

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Bacteria usually start to spread from the gut first - near your stomach and intestines. This is because your stomach contains lots of live bacteria that, when you're alive, help to digest food and even help your brain and nervous system. First, the bacteria start to devour the intestines.

21. They spread around the body

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After they've had a nice intestine meal, they move around the body. They travel through the digestive system to the liver, which they reach about 20 hours after death. Then they'll go to the other major organs of the body, including the heart and brain.

22. A new death begins

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At this point, you undergo the next stage of the process of dying - molecular death. This is when all the cells in your body start to die, devoured by enzymes and destroyed by toxins that are coursing through your body. You've reached the stage when your body starts to become unrecognisable as a body.

23. Your skin may sag again

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After molecular death begins, you'll also undergo secondary flaccidity (no jokes please!). This is when skin begins to sag again after experiencing rigor mortis. This happens over a period of 1 to 3 days after death, when your body will really start to smell.

24. Are your nails growing?

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Because your skin begins to sag and contract after rigor mortis, at this point, it can often appear as if dead bodies have longer hair and nails. However, this is just an illusion as the skin has got smaller and left the nails and hair as long as it was before death.

25. The muscles relax again

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As the muscles relax, it's a surefire sign that your body is completely breaking down and becoming rotten. This happens in the opposite direction to rigor mortis, meaning your fingers and toes are the first thing to become soft again, and ending with your neck, jaw and face.

26. Soft tissue breaks down

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As soft tissues start to break down, putrefaction begins. Your body is starting to decay, including your skin and all your internal organs. When this happens, some of your tissue will even revert back into natural salts and liquids - leaving you as a gross pool of old body parts.

27. Your body produces gases

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Your body also produces gases as it decays. These often gather in the stomach - a large whole in the center of your body - meaning dead bodies often look bloated. In some cases, the pressure of the gases in the body can even cause an explosion!

28. And changes color once more

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Your skin would have taken on a blue-purple tinge during the first stages of death, but once you start to decay properly, your skin will change color once again. In fact, you'll go the true color of a rotten corpse - a greenish/black color. This is because your cells produce sulfhaemoglobin.

29. Blisters appear on the skin

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As the gas appears in your body, it can even blister the skin with its force. These blisters will appear all over the body, while some areas of the skin may rupture entirely from the force of the gases and toxins inside the cells. Your body might even enlarge to twice its size!

30. Then you're really dead and gone

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At this point - when your skin is literally falling off and your cells are being eaten from the inside - you're really dead. At this stage, you're probably going to smell pretty bad too, and not be a very nice sight to see. Maggots are also probably living in your body, too. Lovely stuff!

31. Your Lungs Take Their Last Breath

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Your breathing may start to slow before you die, until the point when you take your very last breath and your lungs stop functioning. There's also a reason that it's called a "death rattle", when your breath can come out shaky, uneven and sound literally like it's rattling as you begin to struggle to breathe freely and then eventually take that last breath!

32. All Body Systems Powered By The Organs Shut Down

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Your vital organs are in control of many important processes and systems in the body, which means these body systems are no longer capable of going on after your organs have shut down. So as soon as your organs stop, these processes in the body that depend on them will have no choice but to shut down, too.

33. Death Itself Is A Process The Body Goes Through

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Many people might think that because death is so immediate and final, it's not a process in itself that your body goes through - but it is just yet another process, and the next step after your organs have shut down. Death is the very last process your body is going to carry out for you, so the last thing you do in life isn't what you do before death - but death itself!

34. How Long Does It Take For Your Body To Die?

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This depends entirely on a person's health and what's going on in the body. The timeline of death is different for everybody, and especially depending on the cause of death. For something sudden, like a heart attack, death is very quick. In other cases, like with chronic conditions, you'll be dying a very slow death as your body breaks down.

35. Treatments For Chronic Conditions Only Delay Or Slow Down Death

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Getting treatment is - rightly - seen as a positive thing, to help treat symptoms and suffering of chronic diseases. But what's really happening is delaying death, and also prolonging the process of your body dying. You're only slowing down how quickly your body dies, rather than preventing it.

36. Changes In The Vital Organs Occur Over Time With Chronic Illnesses

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When your body is enduring a chronic illness, death - and what happens to your organs when you die - is a process that starts way before the actual time of death. With chronic illnesses, or even death from natural causes rather than something sudden, there are lots of changes going on in your body's organs and vital functions.

37. Your Body Will Take On Less Physical Activity

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When your body is dying, the process of sleep and rest is more about your body giving up and not physically being able to cope with activity, rather than that recovery process we use in life to get more energy after sleep. Your heart isn't able to pump blood and oxygen as well, so needing to rest is a just a huge symptom of dying.

38. Your Digestive System Starts To Struggle - And Give Up

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When your body is dying, it doesn't need the same amount of nutrients it used to do, so your appetite goes away quite quickly. Your digestive system is starting to pack in because it's finding it harder to digest any food you do eat. You may lose your appetite altogether, and be less thirsty than usual.

39. Your Bowel And Bladder Are Giving Up, Too

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Because this is also linked to your failing digestive system, you might also find it difficult to pass stool or urine. Another sign of dying is constipation, as well as losing control over your pelvic floor muscles which can then lead to lack of control over urination, and you may find your toilet schedule is no longer something you can control.

40. Even Talking May Stress Out Your Muscles

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When you get to the stage of breakdown in muscles and skin, everything can be a huge task for your body. Losing weight is common, and any sort of movement can make you feel exhausted. Even the movement and effort of talking can be too much for your weakening muscles! Everything is just too much effort.

41. Your Skin Will Start To Go Thinner And Thinner

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The cells in your skin have started to give up, too, which means they're not as quick to replace dying skin cells with new ones. This results in your skin appearing more thin, and it also means that you're more likely to get bruises, cuts and even bedsores if you're bedridden, because your skin isn't as tough as it once was!

42. Your Brain Starts To Withdraw

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During the process of dying, your brain is going to become less and less interested - as well as having less and less energy - in doing things you used to enjoy. You might prefer to be alone because your body and mind just can't cope with too much excess any more. Your body changes for the worst, so your mind has to go that way, too.

43. Your Vital Signs Start Being More Irregular

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Your vitals are all reflections from your organs, such as pulse, breathing rate and blood pressure. Your vital signs are reflecting the health of your vital organs, so when they're declining, your organs are, too. Your body temperature is going to drop, and other vital signs will start getting more irregular with their numbers.

44. You May Actually Get A Crazy Wave Of Energy

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Your body is giving up, so you shouldn't have loads of energy - but a sudden burst of energy is common when the body is shutting down. It can give you a sense of delusion about what you can actually do, like make you suddenly want to jump out of bed and do things you used to be able to do!

45. Your Brain Starts To Process Sensory Information Differently

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What you hear, touch, see, smell and taste can all then start to be processed differently - or wrongly - by your deteriorating brain. Sounds can suddenly become more scary to you, or you may feel like you notice things other people don't. Your tastes may change and this also means you may start seeing people you think are someone else.

46. That 'Bright Light' Could Be A Surge Of Chemicals

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When most people talk about death, there's a belief about a 'bright light' and people saying 'go towards the light'. It's suggested from some studies that this 'bright light' is a result of your dying brain releasing a huge surge of chemicals when it's near the end, which can make your senses feel heightened.

47. You Might Slip In And Out Of A 'Coma'

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When death is approaching, you might also have periods of unconsciousness that you can't control, and may not even remember. You may start to slip in and out of sleep, almost like you're in a coma, and then come out of it not knowing what's happened. As death gets nearer, it's likely you'll slip into unconsciousness and not come out of it again as you die.

48. Breathing Pattern Is A Huge Sign Death Is Close

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A lot of movies depict someone dying as they slip into a sleep-like state where their breathing is calm and then slowly fades. In reality, your breathing could be all over the place when death is near as your lungs start to pack in. Unpredictable breathing patterns and longer periods between breaths mean that your breathing is slowly on the way out.

49. Your Pupils Stop Responding

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As your eyes (and body) die, your pupils will no longer respond in the normal way. While pupils should dilate in response to bright light, your eyes will stop reacting to light and there will be no widening of the pupils. It's all about that blank, dead (quite literally) stare if someone was to pull your eyelids back.

50. Your Body's Reflexes Will No Longer Work

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You know when someone knocks you on the knee in a certain spot just to see your leg kick out, all by itself? That only happens when you're alive, and it's not something your body will still be able to do even a short time after death. Your reflexes will pack in as much as your body has.