Cryonics
I’ve seen through my survey and my research on cryonics, that a lot of people don’t believe its possible to bring people back to life. Obviously, right now, it is not going to happen, but there is a lot of thought going into the process and a lot of good things are possible. People have always put limits on science, but eventually the science always succeeds.
I believe anything is possible over time, even the ability to bring someone back from the dead. Prominent people like Walt Disney and Larry King are not having themselves frozen for publicity, they are doing it because they know that science will always pass our expectations and make new things available.
From my research, I’ve learned about the processes used to freeze people, and I’ve seen all the precautions and techniques used, that will probably keep the body in good shape to be resuscitated.
Cryonics are still a very young science, but with more funding and support, it will begin to produce breakthroughs, and eventually bringing people back to life will be possible.
Comments
Do you have definitive
Do you have definitive evidence that Walt Disney froze himself because, and if so, what did he die from that he has to wait for doctors to find a cure for?
Dear Pat, Nice work on
Dear Pat,
Nice work on choosing a topic as unique as yourself. I do have one question: if people who were frozen were later able to be brought back to life, wouldn't science also have to develop a cure for whatever killed them in the first place and immediately administer treatment upon their period of defrost? Get back to me on this because I really am curious.
Erin
Thanks ya'll. Yes, if someone
Thanks ya'll. Yes, if someone was successfully brought back to life, they would need treatment for whatever killed them. It isn't a big deal though, because molecular nanotechnology solves both the issue of revival and cure. For cryonics to ever work, molecular nanotechnology needs to advance, so on a large scale, little atoms can repair damaged cells throughout the body, one by one. When molecular nanotechnology has advanced enough to bring someone back to life, it will most likely be years after it has already cured thousands of people of the diseases that plague us today. Also, many people who are frozen actually have their heads chopped off and stored in the nitrogen, so if they are brought back to life, and science allows them a new body, many of their diseases of the body would have died with the lower body years ago.
Interesting Topic
Pat I think that your topic is extremely interesting but I am still confused as to how the people's bodies are frozen in liquid nitrogen without sustaining severe damage. How do they make sure that they don't damage the bodies further?
Josh, Before the body is
Josh,
Before the body is frozen, the body is pumped full of anticoagulant (it's like antifreeze for the body). The anticoagulant protects the cells and tissues from damage.
Minor correction An
Minor correction
An anticoagulent is simply a drug that prevents blood clotting. Examples would be Asprin and Heparin. Cryonics does use these. In fact it is important to get an anticoagulant into the patient's system as quickly as possible after they undergo clinical death in order to keep the blood vessels open for the rest of the procedure.
The antifreeze component is referred to as "cryoprotective agent" or CPA. These formulations (containing glycerol, propelyne glycol, and DMSO) are very similar to the antifreeze in your car, but mixed in the least toxic way, with such things as ice-blocking polymers added. The tricky part with CPAs is that they are toxic at high concentrations, especially when the temperature is not yet cold, or when they are delivered too quickly (there is an effect kind of like a sudden exposure to highly concentrated salt, this can cause such rapid flow of fluid out of the cells that they burst their membranes).
So there is a balance of delivering them fast enough while cooling fast enough to prevent autolysis (cellular self destruction that begins to happen after cells are starved of oxygen) plus CPA toxicity, and yet introducing it gradually enough to prevent membrane shock. A perfusing circuit may be used, which adds more and more CPA to the mix, and recycles the fluid by passing it through a filter.