>>> A large study is to examine near-death experiences in cardiac arrest
>>> patients.
>>> Doctors at 25 UK and US hospitals will study 1,500 survivors to see if
>>> people with no heartbeat or brain activity can have "out of body"
>>> experiences.
>>> Some people report seeing a tunnel or bright light, others recall
>>> looking down from the ceiling at medical staff.
>>> The study, due to take three years and co-ordinated by Southampton
>>> University, will include placing on shelves images that could only be
>>> seen from above.
>>> To test this, the researchers have set up special shelving in
>>> resuscitation areas. The shelves hold pictures - but they're visible
>>> only from the ceiling.
>>> Dr Sam Parnia, who is heading the study, said: "If you can demonstrate
>>> that consciousness continues after the brain switches off, it allows
>>> for the possibility that the consciousness is a separate entity.
>>> "It is unlikely that we will find many cases where this happens, but
>>> we have to be open-minded.
>>> "And if no one sees the pictures, it shows these experiences are
>>> illusions or false memories.
>>> "This is a mystery that we can now subject to scientific study."
>>> Dr Parnia works as an intensive care doctor, and felt from his daily
>>> duties that science had not properly explored the issue of near-death
>>> experiences.
>>> He said: "Contrary to popular perception, death is not a specific
>>> moment.
>>> "It is a process that begins when the heart stops beating, the lungs
>>> stop working and the brain ceases functioning - a medical condition
>>> termed cardiac arrest.
>>> "During a cardiac arrest, all three criteria of death are present.
>>> There then follows a period of time, which may last from a few seconds
>>> to an hour or more, in which emergency medical efforts may succeed in
>>> restarting the heart and reversing the dying process.
>>> "What people experience during this period of cardiac arrest provides
>>> a unique window of understanding into what we are all likely to
>>> experience during the dying process."
>>> Dr Parnia and medical colleagues will analyse the brain activity of
>>> 1,500 cardiac arrest survivors, and see whether they can recall the
>>> images in the pictures.
>>> Hospitals involved include Addenbrookes in Cambridge, University
>>> Hospital in Birmingham and the Morriston in Swansea, as well as nine
>>> hospitals in the US.
>>>
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7621608.stm
