How quickly the body cools down. Why do some bodies get very hot after death?

Corpse cooling

With the onset of death, metabolic processes in tissues and heat production gradually stop. The body starts to cool down. Only in some cases, the body temperature immediately before death and after it rises. It was noted that more often such an increase in the temperature of the corpse is observed in death from tetanus, typhus, with traumatic brain injury.

When the corpse is cooled, the peripheral and open parts of the body are the first to cool. The hands become cold to the touch after about an hour, the face after 2 hours. Naturally, the process of cooling a corpse mainly depends on temperature. environment. In addition, the rate of cooling of the corpse is influenced by such factors as humidity, air movement, the presence and nature of clothing, body weight, fatness of the object, the thickness of the subcutaneous fatty tissue, the cause of death, and the duration of the atonal period. It is generally accepted that at room temperature (18 ° C) the corpse cools down by about one degree every hour, and by the end of the day it reaches ambient temperature. According to other data, the drop in body temperature in the first 2-3 hours and 8-9 hours after the onset of death occurs more slowly, and its decrease by 1 ° C occurs in these time intervals not in 1 hour, but in 1.5 - 2 hours. Warm clothes slows down the cooling of the corpse, the lack of clothing speeds it up. According to our observations, the temperature of a corpse in the cold - 8 - 9 ° C in winter clothes, in a day was 7 - 9 ° C warm, and complete freezing of the corpse under these conditions occurred only after two days.

The cooling of the corpse is not important for ascertaining death, since only a temperature of 20 ° C and below is, of course, fatal. The corpse acquires this temperature much later than such absolute signs of death as rigor mortis and cadaveric spots appear. At the same time, the process of cooling a corpse is one of the main signs for establishing the prescription of death (of course, in combination with other cadaveric phenomena). For a more accurate judgment on the rate of development of the cooling of the corpse, it is recommended to determine the body temperature in the rectum and the temperature of the environment (air, water) in dynamics - two, three times in 60 minutes. For example, a dead person, as a physical body, has a temperature of about 37°C. When the corpse is at room temperature + 18 ° C, the latter will begin to cool down, and these processes will stop only when the temperature of the body and the environment equalize and will be in a balanced state for an infinite time.

If the corpse is moved at any time to a temperature of -2°C, its temperature will drop again, but in this case to -2°C. Examination of the corpses of people who died and were in conditions of elevated temperature (baths, saunas) shows that the body temperature in these cases rises and tends to compare with the ambient temperature. It should be noted that putrefactive processes develop extremely rapidly in these cases.

What happens in the coffin with the body after it is buried? This question is of interest not only to those who are fond of mysticism and anatomy. Almost every person on the planet often thinks about this. A large number of myths and myths are associated with the burial process and the further development of the body. interesting facts which little is known. In our article, you can find information that will allow you to learn more about what happens to the corpse throughout the time when it is underground and above it.

General information about processes

Death is natural process which, unfortunately, cannot yet be prevented. Today, how the decomposition of the body in the coffin takes place is known only to those who have medical education. However, detailed information about such a process is also of interest to many inquisitive people. It should be noted that in the corpse, immediately after the onset of death, various processes. These include changes in temperature and oxygen starvation. Already a few minutes after death, organs and cells begin to collapse.

Many torment themselves with the thought of what happens in the coffin with the body. Decomposition, depending on many factors, can proceed in completely different ways. There are more than five processes that, due to certain circumstances, occur in a particular body. Surprisingly, the putrid smell is often artificially created by specialized organizations. This is necessary for training search dogs.

Decay and mummification

In our article you can find detailed information about what happens in the coffin with human body after death. As we said earlier, there are more than five processes that can take place in a particular corpse, depending on a wide variety of factors. The most well-known forms of body development after burial are putrefaction and mummification. Almost everyone has heard about these processes.

Decay is a laborious process that takes place in the body. As a rule, it begins on the third day after death. Simultaneously with decay, the formation of a whole list of gases begins. These include hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and many others. It is for this reason that the corpse emits an unpleasant odor. Depending on the season, the body may decompose slowly or quickly. At air temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, rotting of a corpse occurs in the shortest possible time. If the body was not buried, then the time of its decomposition on the surface of the earth is 3-4 months. When the decay process comes to an end, only bones remain from the corpse, and everything else turns into a mushy mass and eventually disappears altogether. It is worth noting that everything that stands out at this stage absorbs the soil. Thanks to this, she becomes unusually fertile.

What happens in the coffin with the body after death if it is mummified? In this process, the corpse dries completely. An interesting fact is that during mummification, the initial body weight is reduced tenfold. As a rule, such a process takes place in those corpses that have been in conditions of low humidity for a long time. Such places include an attic or, for example, sandy soil. A mummified corpse can persist for quite a long time.

There are only a small number of people who know what happens in the coffin with the human body after death. However, this process is of interest to many. In our article, you can find out more information about how the body develops after death.

Peat tanning and fat wax formation

The process of formation of fat wax occurs if the corpse is buried in the wet form of the soil or has been in the water for a long time. As a result, the body is covered with a fatty layer. white color which has a specific and unpleasant odor. Often this process is also called saponification.

Not everyone knows what happens to a person's body after death in a coffin after 2 months if it is buried in excessively moist soil. After 60 days, the corpse begins to crumble and has a white-yellow hue. If the human body is buried in peat soil or is in a swamp, then the skin becomes dense and rough. It is worth noting that when tanned, the corpse acquires a brown tint, and the size of the internal organs is significantly reduced. Over time, the bones become soft and resemble cartilage in their consistency. By the way, peat tanning can also occur due to the influence of certain factors. These include the temperature of the water and the presence of a variety of trace elements and chemicals in it.

The impact of living organisms on a human corpse

In addition to all of the above factors, the human body can be destroyed by the effects of animals, insects and birds. Most apparently, the body of the deceased is destroyed by fly larvae. Surprisingly, they are able to completely destroy the corpse in just two months.

Other living organisms that absorb the body of the deceased are ants, cockroaches and corpse eaters. Termites are able to turn the body into a skeleton in two months. It is no secret that in addition to insects, the human body can be eaten by dogs, wolves, foxes and other predatory animals. In the reservoir, the corpse is destroyed by fish, beetles, crayfish and other aquatic inhabitants.

Explosive coffins

Not everyone knows what happens to a person in a coffin. With the body, as we said earlier, after some time after burial, various changes begin to occur. After a few hours, the corpse begins to release substances, including various gases. In the event that the coffin was not buried, but was placed in a crypt, it may explode. Many cases have been recorded when relatives came to visit the deceased, and he detonated. However, this can only happen if the coffin is hermetically sealed, but not placed in the ground. We strongly recommend that you be careful when visiting the crypts.

self destruction

What happens to the body in the coffin after death after some time? This question is asked not only by doctors and criminologists, but also by ordinary people. Surprisingly, for some time the body absorbs itself. The thing is that in any organism there are millions of a wide variety of bacteria that do not cause any harm during life. First of all, after death, they completely destroy the brain and liver. This is due to the fact that these organs contain the largest number water. After that, the bacteria gradually destroy everything else. It is with this process that the change in the color of the skin of the deceased is associated. After the corpse enters the rigor stage, it is completely filled with bacteria. The time and process of self-destruction may differ depending on the set of microbes in a particular organism.

It is worth noting that some bacteria can only be in the body at a certain stage of decomposition and putrefaction. Surprisingly, under the influence of microorganisms, the tissues of the deceased turn into gases, salts and various substances. By the way, all these trace elements favorably affect the composition of the soil.

Larvae

In our article, you can find out what happens to the body in the coffin after exposure to the larvae. As we said earlier, in addition to bacteria and other microorganisms, tissues and internal organs are also absorbed by insects, animals and birds.

After the stage of self-destruction ends, the corpse begins to destroy the larvae. Surprisingly, the female fly is capable of laying about 250 eggs at a time. It is no secret that the body of the deceased emits a sharp and unpleasant odor. It is he who attracts insects that lay a large number of eggs on the body. A day later, they turn into larvae. Surprisingly, only three flies are able to devour a corpse with the same speed that a tiger or a lion would do.

The location in the body of certain soil elements or certain microorganisms allows forensic scientists to find out where a person died or was killed. They also argue that in the near future it is the bacterial set of the corpse that can become a new "weapon" for solving many crimes.

The soul of man

Some people think they know what happens to the body in the coffin. They argue that after some time the flesh of the deceased leaves the soul, and, dying, a person sees everything that the living do not see. They also believe that the first three days after death are the most difficult for the deceased. The thing is that for 72 hours the soul is still near the body and is trying to return back. She leaves as soon as she sees that the face and body are changing. After this happens, the soul rushes from home to grave for seven days. In addition, she mourns her body.

After seven days, the soul goes to a place of rest. After that, she only occasionally lowers herself to the ground to look at her body. Some believe that they know what happens in the coffin with the body and soul. However, it is impossible to prove that the spirit actually leaves the flesh.

Diamond production

It is difficult enough to bear the death of a loved one. Some even find it difficult to imagine what happens in the coffin with the body. Often people cremate their dead relatives or even erect a crypt for them right in the yard. Recently, a technology invented by American specialists has gained particular popularity. Surprisingly, they create diamonds from the ashes and hair of a deceased person. American experts believe that this is a great way to preserve the memory of the deceased. Today, this technology is used all over the world. As we said earlier, diamonds can also be made from the hair of the deceased. Today, this procedure is extremely popular. Few people know, but most recently, a company that deals in such jewelry was ordered to make diamonds from Michael Jackson's hair.

It is worth noting that precious stones can be created from dust due to the fact that it contains carbon dioxide. The cost of such a service in America is 30 thousand dollars. Many believe that one should not torment oneself with the thought of what happens in the coffin with the body. They argue that it is better to keep only good memories of the deceased.

Love after death

Everyone handles the death of a loved one differently. There are many cases when people did not bury the deceased, but left him in their house, hiding it. It is known that his wife died in a man, but he did not want to betray her body to the earth, because he could not let her go because of great love. Surprisingly, he ordered a transparent coffin and placed his beloved in it, after pouring a special liquid into it. Then he built a coffee table out of the coffin.

Another case of strange treatment of a corpse occurred in America. There, the woman decided to make a stuffed animal out of her husband. For the corpse, she set aside an entire room in the basement. There she arranged the furniture and her husband's favorite things. She placed the body on a chair. The woman often visited him, told how the day went and asked for advice.

There used to be a tradition. If a person did not find a mate during his lifetime, then he was married after death. It was believed that if this was not done, then the soul of the deceased would not find a place for itself and would wander forever.

This tradition was also in Russia. If a girl died unmarried, then she was dressed in Wedding Dress and chose a guy who should follow the coffin to burial. It was believed that thanks to this, the soul would find peace. It is worth noting that in some localities this tradition is still popular today.

AT ancient egypt necrophilia was common. This is no coincidence, because the Egyptians believed the myths, according to which she impregnated herself with the help of the corpse of Osiris.

Summing up

Death is a natural process. A large number of myths, conjectures and interesting facts are associated with it. It's no secret that the loss of a loved one is difficult to bear. Some people become depressed because of this and do not make contact with society. There are many cases where people start to suffer mental disorder. As a rule, they do not bury their relatives, but leave them in the house, hiding this from neighbors and friends. In our article, you found out what happens to the body in the coffin. The photos that we have selected will let you know what happens to a person after death.

The topic of what happens to the human body after death is fraught with many interesting facts, shrouded in myths and legends. What actually happens to body tissues when a person dies? And is the decomposition process so terrible, which, judging by the relevant photos and videos, is not a sight for the faint of heart.

Stages of death

Death is the natural and inevitable end of the life of any living being. This process does not happen all at once, it includes a series of successive stages. Death is expressed in the cessation of blood flow, stopping the work of the nervous and respiratory systems, the extinction of mental reactions.

Medicine distinguishes the stages of dying:

It is impossible to determine exactly how long a person dies, since all processes are strictly individual, their duration depends on the cause of the termination of life. So, for some, these stages are completed within a few minutes, for others it takes long weeks and even months.

What does a corpse look like?

What happens to the body of the deceased in the first minutes and hours after death is familiar to people who have observed these changes. Appearance of the deceased and the transition from one state to another depend on the natural chemical reactions of the body, continuing even after the extinction of vital functions, as well as environmental conditions.

Drying

It is observed on previously moistened areas: mucous membranes of the lips, genitals, cornea, as well as places of wounds, abrasions and other skin lesions.

The higher the air temperature and the humidity surrounding the corpse, the faster the process. The cornea of the eye becomes cloudy, yellow-brown “Larcher spots” appear on the whites.

Cadaveric drying allows you to assess the presence of intravital injuries in the body.

Rigor

The decrease and subsequent complete disappearance of adenosine triphosphoric acid, a substance formed as a result of metabolic processes, is considered the main reason why the body of the deceased stiffens. When the internal organs cease to function, the metabolism fades, the concentration of various compounds decreases.

The body adopts a posture characterized by bent at the elbows upper limbs, in the hip and knee joints- lower and semi-compressed brushes. Rigor mortis is recognized as an undeniable proof of death.

The active stage occurs 2-3 hours after biological death, ends after 48 hours. Processes are accelerated when exposed to high temperatures.

At this stage, there is a decrease in body temperature. How quickly the corpse cools depends on the environment - during the first 6 hours, the indicator decreases by 1 degree per hour, then - by a degree every 1.5-2 hours.

In the case of pregnancy of the deceased, "birth in a coffin" is possible, when the uterus pushes the fetus out.

cadaveric spots

They are ordinary hematomas or bruises, as they are clots of gore. When the biological fluid stops flowing through the vessels, it settles in the nearby soft tissues. Under the influence of gravity, it descends to an area closer to the surface on which the body of the deceased or deceased lies.

Thanks to this physical features, criminologists can establish how a person died, even if the dead body was moved to another place.

Smell

In the first minutes and hours after death, the only unpleasant odors that will come from the deceased may be the smells of involuntary bowel movements.

After a few days or hours, if the dead body has not been cooled, a characteristic cadaveric or putrefactive odor develops. Its reason lies in chemical processes - the decay of internal organs causes a lot of gases to accumulate in the body: ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and others, which create a characteristic "aroma".

Face changes

Loss muscle tone and relaxation are the reasons for the disappearance of fine wrinkles from the skin, deep ones are less pronounced.

The face takes on a neutral expression, similar to a mask - traces of pain and torment or joyful bliss disappear, the deceased looks calm, peaceful.

sexual arousal

Erection in men is a frequent occurrence in the first minutes after death. Its occurrence is explained by the law of gravity - blood tends to the lower parts of the body and does not return to the heart, its accumulation occurs in the soft tissues of the body, including the reproductive organ.

Bowel and bladder emptying

Natural biological processes arise due to the loss of tone in the muscles of the body. As a result, the sphincter and urethra are relaxed. It is clear that such a phenomenon requires one of the very first and obligatory rituals of the deceased - ablution.

The weight

In the course of many medical studies, it was possible to establish that the mass of a person changes immediately after death - the corpse weighs 21 grams less. There is no scientific explanation for this, therefore it is generally accepted that such is the weight of the soul of the deceased, which left the mortal body for eternal life.

How the body decomposes

The body continues to decompose for many years after death, but these stages mainly occur after the funeral and are not visible to ordinary people. However, thanks to medical research, all stages of decomposition are described in detail in specialized literature, which makes it possible to imagine what a decaying corpse looks like a month or years after death.

Like the stages of death, for each deceased, the processes of decomposition have individual characteristics and depend on the factors that led to the death.

Autolysis (Self Absorption)

Decomposition begins already in the first minutes after the soul leaves the body, but the process becomes noticeable only after a few hours. Moreover, the higher the ambient temperature and humidity in it, the faster these changes occur.

The first stage is drying. Thin layers of the epidermis are exposed to it: mucous membranes, eyeballs, fingertips and others. The skin of these areas turns yellow and thinner, then thickens and becomes like parchment paper.

The second stage is directly autolysis. It is characterized by the breakdown of cells of internal organs caused by the activation of their own enzymes. At this stage, the tissues become soft, liquid, which is why the expression "corpse drip" appeared.

The organs that produce these enzymes are the first to change, and therefore have the largest supply of them:

kidneys;
adrenal glands;
pancreas;
liver;
spleen;
organs of the digestive system.

It is difficult to predict how long the full cycle of autolysis will take. It depends:

on the temperature at which the corpse is stored - the lower it is, the longer the stage of digestion by the tissues of themselves takes;
on the amount of pathogenic microflora that is involved in the process of absorption of body cells.

rotting

This is a late post-mortem stage of decomposition, which occurs on average after three days and proceeds for quite a long time. It is from this moment that a specific putrid smell arises, and the body itself swells from the putrefactive gases that overwhelm it.

If the human remains were not buried, and the temperature surrounding them is high, the corpse rots quickly enough - after 3-4 months only a skeleton remains of it. Cold can slow down these processes, and freezing can stop them. The simple answer to the question of where such rotten masses go is they are absorbed into the soil, which subsequently makes it fertile.

Smoldering

Putrefactive processes are characteristic of the corpses in the grave, and proceed without the participation of oxygen. Remains that have to decompose on the surface of the earth undergo another biological process - smoldering. Moreover, such decomposition occurs faster, since there are fewer chemical compounds in the tissues and at the same time they are less toxic than those that fill the corpse rotting underground.

The reason for the differences is simple - under the action of oxygen, water evaporates faster from the tissues and conditions arise for the growth of mold and the development of invertebrates, which literally “eat away” soft tissues, causing the decomposed corpse to become a pure skeleton.

Saponification

This process is typical for remains buried in soil with high humidity, in water, and in places where there is no access to oxygen. This leads to detachment skin(maceration), moisture penetrates the body and leaches blood and a number of various substances from it, after which saponification of fats occurs. As a result of chemical reactions, special soaps are formed, which form the basis of the fat wax - a solid mass, at the same time similar to soap and cottage cheese.

Fat wax acts on the principle of a preservative: although such corpses do not have internal organs (they look more like a slimy, shapeless mass), the appearance of the body is preserved almost completely.

Traces of injuries and injuries that led to death are easily detected on it: opening of veins, gunshot wounds, strangulation and others. It is for this feature that saponification is appreciated by those who work in the organs forensic medical examination- pathologists and criminologists.

Mummification

At its core, it is the drying up of human remains. For the process to proceed correctly and fully, a dry environment, high temperature and good ventilation of the corpse are required.

At the end of mummification, which can last from several weeks in children to six months in adults, body height and weight decrease, soft tissues become dense and wrinkled (which indicates the absence of moisture in them), the skin becomes brown-brown.

The activities of living organisms

The body of each person inhabits several million microorganisms, the vital activity of which does not depend on whether he is alive or not. After the cessation of biological processes in the body, the immune defense also disappears, making it easier for fungi, bacteria and other flora to move through the internal organs.

Such activity allows the process of self-absorption to proceed faster, especially if environmental conditions are favorable for their growth.

Corpse Sounds

These phenomena are characteristic of the remains that have entered the stage of decay, as they arise as a result of the release of gases that fill the body, and those are formed under the influence of the activity of microorganisms.

In the first days after death, the sphincter and trachea usually become the pathways for the release of volatile substances, therefore the presence of wheezing, whistles and groans is characteristic of the deceased, which are the reason for creating terrible myths.

Bloating

Another phenomenon due to the accumulation of volatile compounds and decomposing internal organs. Since most gases accumulate in the intestines, it is the stomach that swells first, and after that the process spreads to the rest of the members.

The skin integuments lose color, become covered with blisters, and rotten insides in the form of a jelly-like liquid begin to leak from the natural openings of the body.

Hair and nails

There is an opinion that keratinized integuments continue to grow even after the completion of biological processes. And although it is erroneous, it is impossible to say that their length does not increase. The fact is that during drying - the very first stage of decomposition, the skin becomes noticeably thinner and the root of the hair or nail is pulled out, exposed, which creates a deceptive impression of growth.

Bones

Bone tissue is the strongest and least susceptible to destruction part human body. Bones do not decompose for many years, do not rot or decay - even the smallest and thinnest of them take centuries to turn into dust.

Skeletonization of a corpse in a coffin takes up to 30 years, in the ground it happens faster (in 2-4 years). Large and wide bones remain practically unchanged.

soil fertilization

In the process of decomposition from the remains of living matter, several thousand useful components, minerals, micro- and macroelements, chemical and biological compounds, which are absorbed into the soil and become an excellent fertilizer for it.

The process has a positive effect on the general ecological system of the region where the cemeteries are located, explains the custom of some ancient tribes to bury the dead on the edges of pastures and gardens.

What happens to the dead after death

If the physiological and biological components of death are described in some detail both in specialized medical literature, and by individuals who are fond of the occult, who love corpses and are interested in them various states, then the question of the soul or vital energy, wandering mind, subsequent reincarnation and other phenomena has not been fully investigated.

Not a single living person has found answers to the questions whether there is life after death, what a dying or already dead person feels, how real the other world is.

In any case, the body of the deceased must go through its own special ritual, and his soul is remembered by relatives and friends. For the first time, a commemoration is held after 9 days, or no later than after 10 days from the moment of death, again - on the 40th day and the third - on the anniversary of the death.

After 40 days

Analysis of the remains, including those from a hidden grave, can help determine the date of a person's death. For example, studies have shown that the maximum concentration of phospholipids in the fluid flowing from the body is observed 40 days after death, and nitrogen and phosphorus - after 72 and 100 days, respectively.

After 60 days, the corpse begins to crumble, if buried in moist soil, acquires a whitish-yellow color. The stay of the body in peat soil and swamp makes the skin dense and rough, the bones eventually become soft, resembling cartilaginous tissue.

According to Orthodox beliefs, in 40 days the soul of the deceased ends earthly ordeals and goes to the afterlife.

What it will be - the Supreme Court will decide, not the last argument on which will be the fact how the burial was carried out. So, before burying the coffin, a service is read over the deceased, during which all his earthly sins are forgiven.

In a year

At this time, the processes of decomposition of the body continue: the remaining soft tissues, exposing the skeleton. It is characteristic that a year after death, the cadaverous smell is no longer there. This means that the decay process is complete. The remnants of tissues smolder, releasing nitrogen and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

During this period, the presence of tendons, dry and dense parts of the body can still be observed. Next, a long process of mineralization (up to 30 years) will start, as a result of which bones that are not fastened together will remain from a person.

The year in Orthodoxy is marked by the final passage of the soul of the deceased to Heaven or Hell and the union with the deceased relatives and friends. It is the first anniversary that is considered the new birth of the soul for eternal life, so the commemoration is held surrounded by close relatives and all people dear to the deceased.

Burial methods

Each religion has its own canons and customs, according to which ceremonies are held to honor and commemorate the deceased on certain days, as well as features of the burial of the body.

So, in Christianity, it is customary to bury the dead in a coffin or immerse them in crypts, in Islam - to wrap them in a shroud and put them in damp earth, in Hinduism and Buddhism they burn the dead, because they believe that the soul is able to be reborn and return in a new body, and in Some Indian tribes still have the custom of eating the dead.

The list of methods is long, and quite unusual ones have recently been encountered: dissolving the body in special chemical compounds or hanging it in air for mummification. But two are the most popular in our country: burial in a coffin and cremation.

Few even believers know why dead people are buried in coffins. According to beliefs, the very concept of "dead" or "deceased" means asleep, resting, that is, one who temporarily rests in anticipation of the reappearance of Christ and the subsequent resurrection.

That is why the body of the deceased is placed in a coffin, which is designed to keep it until the Second Coming. The key features are the position of the pillow under the head and the placement in the ground facing east, since that is where the Savior will appear.

If we consider the burial process from the point of view of biology, the wooden box in which the deceased is placed is also considered a natural material, and when the coffin rots, additional fertilizer is formed that improves the ecosystem.

Cremation is the process of burning a body. It is popular because it has a number of advantages:

saving space, since the urn with ashes takes up less space than the coffin;
cremation costs less than conventional funerals;
if the urn with the ashes of the deceased is placed at home, then a place in the cemetery is not required.

The only nuance is to hope for the subsequent Resurrection and gaining eternal life in Orthodoxy, such dead people are not worth it, since the church does not welcome and even condemns cremation.

Another topical issue is how many days the dead are buried. Here everything is individual and depends on the causes and circumstances of the death itself. If the law enforcement agencies have no questions about the onset of death, it is better to carry out the burial on the second day after death, since the processes of decay begin later, the corpse turns black or blue, covered with spots, smells bad.

If, for some reason, burial is temporarily impossible, the body should be placed in cold storage. Thus, the special temperature in the mortuary and the treatment of the corpse with appropriate chemicals will help keep it in optimal condition for a long time. Some relatives try to stop decomposition with dry ice or by placing the deceased in the cold, which can be done, but only if the funeral is delayed for 1-2 days.

In some cases, most often requiring additional forensic research or reburial, the corpse is exhumed.

The removal of the body is usually done with special permission and compliance Orthodox customs and canons. Exhumed bodies are very quickly redirected to the morgue or to a subsequent burial site.

One morning in a Czech hospital, a 69-year-old man died of heart disease. An hour later, as the nurses were preparing to transport the body to the autopsy lab, they noticed that the corpse's skin was unusually warm. Calling a doctor to confirm the fact of death (and the man was indeed dead), the sisters decided to take the temperature. It turned out that 1.5 hours after death, the body temperature was 40 o C, about five degrees higher than his death temperature, although it was much colder in the ward itself.

Fearing tissue degradation due to overheating, the doctor and sisters sought to cool the body with ice, so that over time it cooled to a completely “cadaverous” temperature. The study of this unusual case was published in the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology (the link may be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance work on the journal's website), and has nothing to do with the phenomenon of spontaneous human combustion. Pathologist Victor Wied states that post-mortem hyperthermia is a documented but still poorly understood phenomenon.

Where does heat come from

In a living organism, heat is produced due to the fact that it breaks down food with the release of thermal energy. After death, metabolic processes stop, so the body cools down quickly. This temperature difference is even used by pathologists and medical examiners in order to determine the exact time of a patient's death. Unfortunately, the relationship between body temperature and time of death is not always so unambiguous. In 1839, physician John Davey recorded an unusual high temperatures in the bodies of British soldiers who died in Malta. Some of the corpses were heated to 46oC, although Davey suggested that the warmer climate might have played a role. However, post-mortem overheating has been documented by many other physicians and forensic scientists.

Peter Noble, a microbiologist at the University of Alabama who studies changes in microbiomes and gene expression after death, said research on post-mortem overheating has not been sufficiently thorough. Most of the research was done by non-experts, and so a lot of the data is simply undocumented, and scientific hypotheses cannot be built on the basis of such conclusions. Body temperature is affected by many factors, including the amount of clothing and body fat thickness, ambient temperature, and humidity. Physicians use a number of methods to determine the time of death. comparative characteristics including muscle stiffness, discoloration of the body, degree of putrefaction, and insect infestation of the corpse.

So what is the reason for the post-mortem heating of corpses?

Be that as it may, today the post-mortem overheating of the body remains a mystery, and its causes, frequency of manifestation and the very fact of existence are still blurry and inaccurate. It is not possible to carefully study the phenomenon, if only because it occurs spontaneously and far from always in specialized hospitals. The factors that make the body more susceptible after death - cancer, intoxication, brain injury, asphyxia, heart attacks, etc. - do not make the task any easier either. As for the heating itself, most experts simply talk about "metabolic processes", without any specifics. The new study, for example, cites "prolonged tissue and bacterial metabolism as well as insufficient heat loss" as the cause.

Noble believes that a situation where heated blood (for example, as a result of strong physical activity) stops abruptly due to sudden death, then the heat will indeed persist long enough to cause the body to heat up. An important role is also played by drugs that manipulate blood flow. But the decay bacteria, according to the pathologist, cannot have a significant effect - the immune system partially active for another 24 hours after death and autopsy, so bacterial growth is usually suppressed during these hours. Symbiont bacteria (for example, intestinal bacteria) can still continue to decompose food, causing some heating. The cells of the body also do not die at once, and for some time they live on internal resources even after cardiac arrest and brain activity. CO2, which accumulates in the process and, finding no way out, begins to destroy the cells themselves, causes autolysis, or self-digestion. And this process can generate a certain amount of heat.

Summing up

Post-mortem overheating is a mysterious and poorly understood phenomenon, although it is well documented. Many factors, if they happen to coincide in time and place of action, can cause partial heating of the body after death, but an exact explanation modern science cannot give. Perhaps, if someday doctors manage to simulate such a situation and cause it artificially, in laboratory conditions, they will be able to give a clear conclusion. Until then, we can only hypothesize.

Cadaveric cooling ( lat.- algor mortis) - a decrease in body temperature that occurs after death. The decrease in body temperature occurs until it equalizes with the ambient temperature.

Corpse cooling periods

Dynamics of the deep body temperature

Currently, traditionally, there are three periods of corpse cooling:

Period of disordered (irregular) cooling(according to the definition of L. Althaus, C. Hennsge - "temperature plateau") - the first few hours after death.
The period of regular cooling of the corpse- the corpse cools down according to the law, mathematically described by exponential equations (usually from 4-5 to 12-24 hours after death).
The period of equalization of the temperatures of the corpse and the environment- usually 2036 hours after death, the temperature of the corpse is compared with the ambient temperature and the cooling of the body stops.

The specified duration of the listed periods is conditional and in each case depends on many factors.

The initial (lifetime) body temperature is also a fairly variable value and may differ slightly from person to person. various people. Moreover, even for the same person, it can vary depending on the time of day, the degree of emotional and physical stress, the day menstrual cycle(in women) and many other reasons. Depending on the cause of death (variant of thanatogenesis), dying can occur against the background of normal intravital temperature (normothermic variant), its increase (hyperthermic variant) or decrease (hypothermic variant of thanatogenesis).

Factors affecting the rate of decrease in body temperature

The rate of change in body temperature depends on many factors.

External factors

Ambient temperature, its stability or fluctuations.
Temperature, heat capacity and thermal conductivity of the bodies with which the corpse contacts (the so-called substrate).
Air humidity.
Air movement (wind).
Clothing and other items that isolate the corpse from the external environment.
The presence of an external source of infrared radiation (direct sunlight, heaters, etc.).

Internal factors

Body temperature at the time of death.
Body mass.
The degree of expression of subcutaneous adipose tissue.
The presence of blood loss.

Mathematical models of cadaveric cooling

For practical application within the framework of the thermal method of establishing the prescription of death, in order to achieve the minimum calculation error, only models based on exponential dependence can be recommended.

Linear Models

Parabolic Models

S-shaped models

Exponential Models

One of the most common models of post-mortem cooling of a corpse in the world is the two-exponential model of cooling of a corpse by Brown-Marshall (Brown and Marshall) modified by K. Henssge. Allows you to set the prescription of death, depending on body weight, rectal temperature, temperature and humidity of the environment, the presence and type of clothing.

In 2011 published a new medical technology "Diagnosis of the prescription of death by thermometric method in the early post-mortem period" (Kildyushov E.M., Vavilov A.Yu., Kulikov V.A., 2011) Used to determine the prescription of death on the basis of two or four measurements temperature of the rectum, liver or brain.