Offers insight into healthcare practices, identifying the cellular sources of aging and illness and revealing that aggressive treatments provide an illusion of control and survivability at the cost of life quality.

Long out of print, this book was written by a prominent physician to reassure the many 19th century people who were worried about being buried aliveOne of the authors himself had a narrow escape with live burial, as his collaborator writes: "Dr. Vollum first became interested in the important question of Premature Burial in consequence of his own very narrow escape from live sepulture, having been pronounced dead from drowning,...

Very often, when the subject of funerals comes up, the direction of the conversation tends to lead people to discuss what they would want for their own funeral. "I just want a big party," "I'd really like Father Patrick to perform the Mass," "I want to be buried in my Vikings jersey." People frequently have very specific wishes that never become more concrete than being briefly mentioned in these conversations. It is amazing how a little bit of thought...

Thoughtful, amusing, and provocative, Making an Exit will transform the way you look at life's last passage. Because, as Murray discovers, death is, for many, not an ending but the start of something new. Author and journalist Sarah Murray never gave much thought to what might ultimately happen to her remains-that was, until her father died. While he'd always insisted that the "organic matter" left after a person takes their last breath had no significance,...

Inspired by true events How many times have you been driving along and suddenly see a makeshift cross, a fence post or a milepost with flowers hanging on it, a sign that some poor soul had found their way there, only to find the ever after? I have wondered countless times in countless places traveling alone, and see a lone cross on the side of the road, wondering what kind of life brought some wayward soul to this spot sometimes so desolate, why...

David Welborn has a unique profession. He transports the dead from where they fell, and in whatever condition they passed. Car accidents, suicides, homicides, and drug overdoses become common place for him as he grapples these horrors. He soon realizes that this tight knit profession is unknown to most of the world. Few people think of who gathers the deceased when they see a fatal car accident or hear of a murder. Often sent on the worst of the worst...

¿Qué es la eutanasia? ¿Cuáles son sus consecuencias? ¿Cómo saber si un tratamiento es proporcionado? ¿Qué significa "estado vegetativo"? ¿Para qué sufrir? Desde su contacto diario con el dolor, el autor trata sobre la muerte, los trasplantes de órganos, la sedación, el coma y el estado vegetativo, los sentimientos del enfermo terminal y de su familia, los deseos del paciente, el ensañamiento terapéutico, el suicidio asistido y los cuidados...

La muerte es una realidad personal ineludible, está presente en la violencia cotidiana, las catástrofes naturales, las enfermedades, los accidentes y suicidios, dejando generalmente un dolor profundo e inestabilidad en la salud emocional y física del sobreviviente, el duelo, sin duda, genera cambios en el doliente, es una experiencia, en mayor o menor medida, transformadora de su realidad: de sus relaciones consigo mismo y con el entorno. Estas...

Douglas realizó la labor de investigación de los ritos funerarios en Murélaga que sustenta la presente obra, ya un verdadero clásico, guiado por su convencimiento de que "en la sociedad vasca, las respuestas individuales y colectivas a la crisis causada por una muerte ocurrida en la comunidad son tan complejas y ocupan una posición tan destacada en la visión que del mundo tienen los actores, que nos autorizan a diferenciar en el sistema de valores...

¿Por qué? fue la pregunta, sin respuesta, incontestable, testaruda, constantemente reiterada en boca de aquel padre, mientras su mirada acechaba, incrédula, el rostro lívido de su hija, dieciocho años, recién fallecida de forma absurda e imprevista. Su eco, flotando en el ambiente, conmocionó al autor de este libro, hace más de cincuenta años, y alumbró en él su vocación por entender el misterio de la muerte. Vivir la muerte garantiza...