15 Terms related to death from a medical standpoint. terms
In Health Sciences, we often examine life, but it's also important to analyse death, as it's also an important part of our cycle on earth.
(CFR) Diseases with a case fatality rate
Phrase
Diseases with a case fatality rate (CFR) approaching or equal to 100% are typically rare, untreatable, and often involve rapid neurodegeneration or advanced, untreated infection.
Example: Even if CFRs are rare, they're still a medical concern.
fr: Maladie à létalité totale
AND (Allow Natural Death)
Phrase
Refers to the order that allows a natural course of events to occur in an acute care setting. It is an active, positive position embodying the hope that dying will occur as peacefully and naturally as possible, surrounded by loved ones.
Example: The patient signed an AND.
fr: Aide à mourir
Assisted Death
Noun
Known as “physician-assisted dying” or “aid in dying,” it is legal in all states with existing death with dignity laws. It permits mentally competent, adult patients with terminal illness to request a prescription for life-ending medications from their physician.
Example: The patient requested assisted death.
fr: Mort Assistée
Autolysis
Noun
Also known as "self-digestion," this is the destruction of cells by their own internal enzymes immediately after death.
Example: Autolysis starts seconds after death.
fr: Autolyse
Coroner
Noun
A coroner is someone who investigates deaths that are sudden, unnatural, or unattended deaths.
Example: The coroner is currently looking at the man's body.
fr: Coronaire
DNR (Do not resuscitate)
Phrase
DNR/DNI stands for Do Not Resuscitate/Do Not Intubate and is a specific physician order. A DNR means that in the event of cardiac arrest, no CPR or electric shock will be performed to restart the heart.
Example: The nurse rushed to help the patient until she noticed the DNR on his chart.
fr: ONPR (ordre de ne pas ressusciter)
Euthanasia
Noun
The practice of terminating the life of a person in a painless or minimally painful way to stop suffering or other undesired conditions in life.
Example: Euthanasia is not only carried out on animals.
fr: Euthanasie
Intractable Pain
Noun
Intractable pain is chronic pain that cannot be treated or removed by usual medical treatments or by natural healing. Intractable pain is debilitating, constant, and incurable even after efforts to relieve this pain made by physicians and surgeons who specialize in treating the part of the body acting as the source of the pain.
Example: Sadly, she was diagnosed with intractable pain.
fr: Douleur intractable
Lividity (Livor Mortis)
Noun
The pooling of blood in the "dependent" (lowest) parts of the body due to gravity creates a purple-red skin discoloration.
Example: The lividity was already showing when we found the body.
fr: Lividité cadavérique
Palliative care
Noun
Palliative care is an organization or institution that provides comfort for individuals who are dying when medical treatment is no longer expected to cure the disease or prolong life.
Example: Grandpa was moved to palliative care last week.
fr: Soins palliatifs
Post-mortem Cooling (Algor mortis)
Noun
The process by which the body loses heat until it reaches the temperature of its surroundings.
Example: The body was cold to the touch due to post-mortem cooling.
fr: Refroidissement cadavérique
Post-mortem Stiffening (Rigor Mortis)
Noun
The chemical reaction that causes the muscles to lock and the joints to become rigid after death.
Example: The coroner evaluated the corpse's post-mortem rigidity and concluded that the death had happened 6 hours ago.
fr: Rigidité cadavérique
Prion diseases
Noun
Prion diseases are rare, fatal, and rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disorders caused by misfolded proteins (prions) that cause brain damage, resulting in dementia, ataxia, and muscle spasms. These diseases occur in humans and animals, typically acting as "slow infections" with long incubation periods but a 100% mortality rate upon symptom onset.
Example: Once the prions enter your body, your life has already ended.
fr: Maladies à prions
Putrefaction
Noun
The decomposition of organic matter. The typical anaerobic splitting of proteins by bacteria and fungi, with the formation of foul-smelling incompletely oxidized products.
Example: The smell of putrefaction was unbearable.
fr: Putréfaction
Rabies
Noun
Rabies is a fatal viral disease that causes encephalitis (brain inflammation), transmitted to humans via saliva through bites or scratches from infected mammals, such as bats, foxes, or unvaccinated pets. Early symptoms include fever, headache, and pain/tingling at the exposure site, which progress to severe neurological symptoms. Once symptoms appear, it is almost 100% fatal.
Example: Once you start showing symptoms of rabies, your chance of surviving is near 0%.