Death
Death: 1. The end of life. The cessation of life. (These common definitions of death ultimately depend upon the definition of life, upon which there is no consensus.) 2. The permanent cessation of all vital bodily functions. (This definition depends upon the definition of “vital bodily functions.”) See: Vital bodily functions. 3. The common law standard for determining death is the cessation of all vital functions, traditionally demonstrated by “an absence of spontaneous respiratory and cardiac functions.” 4. The uniform determination of death. The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 1980 formulated the Uniform Determination of Death Act. It states that: “An individual who has sustained either (1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions, or (2) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem is dead. A determination of death must be made in accordance with accepted medical standards.” This definition was approved by the American Medical Association in 1980 and by the American Bar Association in 1981.
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Death rate: The number of deaths in the population divided by the average population (or the population at midyear) is the crude death rate. In 1994, for example, the crude death rate per 1,000 population was 8.8 in the United States, 7.1 in Australia, etc. A death rate can also be tabulated according to age […]
- Death rate, infant
Death rate, infant: The number of children dying under a year of age divided by the number of live births that year. The infant death rate is also called the infant mortality rate. The infant mortality rate is an important measure of the well-being of infants, children, and pregnant women because it is associated with […]
- Death, black
Death, black: The black plague or the plague. In 14th century Europe, the victims of the “black plague” had bleeding below the skin (subcutaneous hemorrhage) which made darkened (“blackened”) their bodies. The black death swept recurrently through Europe, killing al least 1/3 its population in the middle of the 14th century.
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- Debilitate
Debilitate: To impair the strength of or to enfeeble. A chronic progressive disease may debilitate a patient.