My next theme of bioethics assignments is about the problem of brain death and organ transplants. This kind of issue is over my head. And my English skill is not enough to write this theme. I'll write a little part of my thinking.
Checking for the heartbeat, the breathing, the size of the pupils(doukou), a doctor decides the death of a patient.
However, even if the patient's lungs or heart doesn't work, it is normal to keep them working by medical instruments. And, in that cases, the doctor or the relatives assume the patient is still living.
But, in the case of crucial brain damage, even if the patient's lungs and heart still work well by medical instruments, the doctor can assume the patient as brain death. Because every organ is controlled by the brain. So, brain death could be equal to the end of organism. The relatives will be forced to make a decision when to stop the medical instruments.
In the case of brain death, the body can become resource of other patients who suffer from organ failure. Organ transplants is the more fresh, the better. It will be too hard for relatives to accept brain death and organ transplants at the same time.
As for me, I refuse any life-sustaining medical treatment. And I don't care what happens to my body after my brain death. It is OK to feed my body to hyena. I would rather be eaten than be burned. I want to be sort of nutrition in nature.
But I never ask my family to do that. Because I know nobody accepts my thinking. It is far from our custom and culture. So, it must be to respect the will of the surviving-people. Only surviving-people have to get over the grief. It doesn't any matter what the dead thinks in his/her living.
Get back to organ transplants, the most important thing is what the bereaved family want to after the brain death of their family. In our custom and culture, still there is a important meaning in the body of the dead. For the family, the body is not resource.
