Brain Death and Disorders of Consciousness [Paperback]

Although some decades have passed, there are still worldwide controversies about a concept of human death on neurological grounds. There are also disagreements on the diagnostic criteria for brain death, whether clinical alone or clinical plus ancillary tests. Moreover, some scholars who were strong defenders of a brain-based standard of death are now favoring a circulatory-respiratory standard. The study of coma is extremely important because lesions of the brain are responsible for quality of life in patients or cause of death. The main goal of Brain Death and Disorders of Consciousness is to provide a suitable scientific platform to discuss all topics related to human death and coma.Although some decades have passed, there are still worldwide controversies about a concept of human death on neurological grounds. There are also disagreements on the diagnostic criteria for brain death, whether clinical alone or clinical plus ancillary tests. Moreover, some scholars who were strong defenders of a brain-based standard of death are now favoring a circulatory-respiratory standard. The study of coma is extremely important because lesions of the brain are responsible for quality of life in patients or cause of death. The main goal of Brain Death and Disorders of Consciousness is to provide a suitable scientific platform to discuss all topics related to human death and coma.Philosophical, Ethical, and Legal Issues.- Brain Death: Updating a Valid Concept for 2004.- The Concept of Brain Death.- The Critical Organ for the Organism as a Whole: Lessons from the Lowly Spinal Cord.- Brain Death Is Not Death.- The Conceptual Basis for Brain Death Revisited: Loss of Organic Integration or Loss of Consciousness?.- Consciousness, Mind, Brain, and Death.- The Death of Death.- The Semiotics of Death and Its Medical Implications.- About the Continuity of Our Consciousness.- Brain Death and Organ Transplantation: Concepts and l“M