A woman tries to commit suicide. She’s rushed to the hospital but she’s conscious still and hands the doctors a living will that stipulates that she doesn’t want to be treated, just kept comfortable as she dies.

The doctors respect her living will and don’t treat her. They feel that if they do treat her, she could come back after them later and accuse them of assault, since she specifically refused treatment. She dies.

Her family is angry, accuses the doctors of allowing the woman to die (which they did). They say, they had not choice because she told them not to. Who is right?

This did happen in the United Kingdom recently. Doctors in the UK have had directives that they were to obey living wills from people who refused treatment. Failure to comply could mean that they could no longer practice medicine.

Here is the whole story.

A 26-year-old woman was depressed. She’d tried to commit suicide nine times the year before, each time by drinking a poison. Each time, doctors saved her. Finally, the tenth time, she drew up the advanced directives telling the medical personnel not to save her and then drank the poison again.

How did she end up in the hospital? She called the ambulance herself. But, according to the letter she handed her doctor, it was not to be saved, it was so she could die in the hospital and not alone. The next day, she died.

What do you think the doctors should have done? Should they have saved her anyway? She was determined to die if she kept trying. Did she have a right to die? Was calling an ambulance something that would annul her desire to die? Were they right to respect her wishes?

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Source

Image: PhotoXpress.com

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Answer a few simple questions and you’ll be enlightened, perhaps even frightened. Of course, it can’t actually predict when you might kick the bucket. But it is able to  calculate your risk of dying in the next year and allows you to compare that risk to others in the world.

More specifically, it displays the risk ranking for up to 66 causes of death, provides  easy and direct comparisons, and estimates of the number of people that die for a specific group.
To find out more, click here if you dare….

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But, according to this fascinating article from mental floss, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Might sound somewhat morbid and gross, but it turns out there are plenty things your body can do and places for your body to end up rather than six feet under or in an urn.

According to this mental floss article  ‘10 Things Your Body Can Do After You Die’, throughout history, the dead have been busy doing everything from getting married (ghost marriage) and unwinding with a few friends (mummy based panaceas) to powering up crematoriums, being a Soviet tourist attraction (Lenin), standing trial (Pope Formosus), and touring the world as a work of art (Body Worlds).

That’s just to tip of the iceberg when it comes to dead adventures. Head on over to mental floss to find out all the gory details.

Post from: Healthbolt

I’m not too sure what to make of it really. The Pocket Cemetery lets you create virtual memories using cusomizable tombstones and cemetery plots with pictures, bios, and favorite memories.

And it doesn’t have to be just for your family. You can memorialize anyone, including celebrities and pets. You can even put virtual flowers and personalized messages can be placed on graves.

Given that family members are often spread around the world and can‘t always get home, this might not be such a bad idea.

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According to creator Wayne Perry, fans of Michael Jackson also think it’s a good idea. He’s received numerous requests for pre-release versions of the Pocket Cemetery from the King of Pop’s fans who want to create their own memorials to Michael.

Perry added his own Michael Jackson memorial to his YouTube channel last week and since then has gotten over 1,000 requests for the Pocket Cemetery.

Macabre or brilliant – you decide.

(image source)

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This debate revolves around an old law and a new case. The old law, the 1961 Suicide Act bans assisted suicide in Britain and criminalises anyone who aids, abets, counsels or procures someone else’s suicide.

The new case -  a 46-year-old woman with progressive multiple sclerosis who wants to travel abroad to die and wants to ensure her husband Omar Puente won’t be  prosecuted if he helps her travel.

The law as it stands can allow for the prosecution of  relatives and friends who travel with someone planning to undertake assisted dying overseas. Granted, government law officers readily admit that those who goes abroad for this purpose are highly unlikely to face prosecution.

But law is law. And it looks as though this one is about to be changed.

Further reading…

Post from: Healthbolt

Treadmills and other home gym equipment is great for keeping adults fit but are a definite danger to children.

In fact, the Australian Office of Fair Trading has become so concerned the increase in reports of treadmill injuries to children that they issued a public education campaign in 2008.

Called  Treadmills and Kids Don’t Mix, this campaign highlights the dangers of treadmills for children, especially how a treadmill’s moving belt can cause friction injuries and entrap fingers, hands, hair, and clothing.

The campaign made the following safety tips for treadmill owners and users… 

If you can, use your treadmill in the room away from young children.

If this is not possible:

–use safety barriers (like a playpen) to keep children away from the treadmill

–do not use your treadmill when young children are around

Always keep your treadmill unplugged when not in use.

Store your treadmill well away from children’s reach.Always supervise older children if they are using a treadmill.

When you buy a new treadmill choose one with protective covers and a safety stop switch.

Keeping children away from the treadmill altogether, however, might be the best line of defence.

(image source)

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Arlington Cemetary

It’s something that never happened in previous wars. But this is now a routine way of not only determining accurately the cause of death but to also obtain full details about injuries from bullets, blasts, shrapnel, and burns.

The end result of these autopsies is yielding a wealth of information that highlights any deficiencies in equipment (ie body armor, vehicle shielding, etc) and has resulted in changes and improvements in military and medical field equipment.

Have a read of this New York Times article to find out more about this new world of military autopsies and how it is helping protect and save military personnel in the war zone.

(image source)

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But now a new study by Swedish researchers indicates that, in some places in the world, too much sunlight can also be a catalyst for an increased number of people committing suicide.

The researchers studied the suicide rates of people living in Greenland,  a country that’s so far north it never sees the sun setting in the summer months. Looking at the suicides between 1968 and 2002, the researchers found that 82% of them occurred during the summer months. 

According to the researchers,  this increased summer suicide rate is probably due to the fact that prolonged daylight causes not only insomnia but also an imbalance in serotinin (the brain chemical linked to mood) both of which make some people more vulnerable to depression and suicide.

(source and image)

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Tobey

Congratulations Tobey. You will be receiving an email shortly with instructions on how to claim your prize.

The Path DVD, if you remember, is the first in a series of documentaries that are being created by Michael Habernig and April Hannah of Path11 Productions, who interviewed 13 individuals – well renowned authors, practitioners and well respected local practitioners in Upstate New York - who offer their their expertise on their own souls path, what they have learned along the way and their knowledge about the afterlife.

You can find out more about this interesting documentary by…

1. Checking out the film’s official website – www.thepathseries.com – where you can buy a copy of the DVD.
2. Heading over to facebook or myspace
3. Watch trailers and interviews at YouTube.

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It’s not exactly a light question but the reason I brought it up was because I had just run across a new documentary called The Path which was due to released mid Febuary and I had arranged for a DVD giveaway for Healthbolt readers.

I haven’t seen the DVD yet but the trailer gives the impression that it would definitely be worth checking out.

See for yourself…

The Path DVD giveaway is being extended until the 14th of February. So go and check it out and then leave a comment over at Where Do You Go When You Die?

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