Thursday, October 15, 2009

Scientists hope work with poison gas can be a lifesaver

I’ve heard of some strange ways people have tried to extend life (like cryonics), but this one has to be the oddest.

These guys are serious… 

The rat sniffs the air a few times, and within a minute, his naturally twitchy movements are almost still. On a monitor that shows his rate of breathing, the lines look like a steep mountain slope, going down.

At first glance, that looks bad. We need oxygen to live. If you don't get it for several minutes -- for example, if you suffer cardiac arrest or a bad gunshot wound -- you die. But something else is going on inside this rat. He isn't dead, isn't dying. The reason why, some people think, is the future of emergency medicine.”

Read the whole story here at CNN Health.

 

No comments:

A Life Changer: Living With an Awareness of Mortality

     Since my father died last August, there's been other deaths in my family and among good friends. During this tough stretch I'v...