What does it mean when someone dies of “old age”? Is there some medical condition such as heart failure (and if so why not just call it heart failure), or is it a euphemism for “we don’t know” (and if so is it still in use)?
Daniel Patronsky (Chicago)
Dear Daniel:
Although “old age” is used widely in informal language, it is not a medical term, and coroners or medical examiners never use it as an official cause of death. Instead of old age, it is medically correct to announce a “death by natural causes.”2 This is because old age is too unspecific to qualify as an actual medical term for a cause of death. With age comes the eventual breakdown of various functions in the body, so there is always a more precise cause of death.2 Medical examiners would much rather cite heart disease as the cause of death than something as vague as old age. You mentioned heart failure, which is basically what happens eventually to all of us mortals. However, as a medical term, there isn’t a clear definition that is universally acknowledged for heart failure. Rather, the leading cause of death worldwide has continuously been heart and cardiovascular disease, such as cardiac arrest; this accounts for about 30% of all deaths.11 The number is so large because these are diseases of the heart and blood vessels and encompass a wide range of problems.
The most recent well-known death by natural causes – specifically, cardiac arrest – I can think of is Brittany Murphy’s. If you’re not aware of the famous actress, she was just 32 when she died last December.3 She didn’t seem to have any injuries, and officials didn’t suspect a murder or a suicide.8 When she was further examined, the coroner concluded that she had died of cardiac arrest.7 Because it seemed that a naturally-occurring heart condition did her in, it was ruled as a death by natural causes. However, one question lingers – “How did a young, (seemingly) healthy woman die so suddenly of cardiac arrest?” Although uncommon, it does happen, but many skeptics and doubtful doctors disagree about the nature of her death.
Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops beating normally and blood can no longer circulate properly to and from the heart to keep the person alive.1 However, when death occurs, it is because the heart has stopped beating, so the term “cardiac arrest” generally provides little insight into how she died – namely, what happened to induce cardiac arrest. Brittany Murphy’s death is still surrounded by speculation – there’s talk of a possible illness, eating disorder, or overdose.7 Yet, she is said to have died by natural causes because people can’t come to a definite conclusion; we’re forced to say, euphemistically, that we just aren’t sure.
On the other hand, you don’t have to die from some mysterious reason for your passing to be a death by natural causes. Your death will be ruled as such if medical examiners realize that the cause of death was an illness or an internal malfunction – events that were not provoked artificially in any way.10 But if you commit suicide, die from assisted suicide, or are killed in a homicide (the horror!), you have not died from natural causes. Death can occur by a wide range of natural causes, from devastating diseases like cancer and leukemia, to quick events like strokes or heart attacks, to seemingly minor flu viruses.2
On a side note about death and diseases, many Republicans were up in arms about a proposal of Obama’s that would give the government the “power to kill off senior citizens”, especially if they have incurable or costly diseases.4 This rumor proliferated throughout the nation during the summer of 2009 about “death panels”, a term dubbed by Sarah Palin about a portion of the health care reform bill proposing end-of-life planning. Although it was much earlier in 2008 that a law had been passed allowing Medicare patients to undergo end-of-life planning, the controversy over the proposal in the health care reform bill heated up this past year.9
Basically, end-of-life planning allows a patient to discuss with their doctor, ahead of time, the terms of their care should they unexpectedly fall gravely ill and incapable of making health decisions. However, opponents of end-of-life planning, such as Sarah Palin, have rallied against it, saying that doctors would advise patients with critical diseases to forgo life-sustaining treatment, therefore saving the government millions of dollars in treatment.4 The backlash and rumors led to Obama dropping the regulations from the health care reform bill. However, since January 1st, a new Medicare policy states that the government would pay doctors who counsel patients on end-of-life planning.6 This time, however, these regulations are rolling out quietly, so as not to provoke the media.
Although the policies have been criticized, end-of-life planning isn’t a bad idea. 70% of Americans do not have living wills – the majority of the nation has no plan in the event of a health emergency.9 According to the research by Schumacher, merely talking to your doctor more, honestly and openly, results in a higher quality of life for the patient and for those family members after a death. With end-of-life planning, you can make a living will and appoint a trusted person to take care of important health decisions if you are rendered incapable to do so. You wouldn’t imagine cooking a new recipe from scratch without any directions, or driving to a place you’ve never been before without any directions, so why do so many people forgo thinking about their future life plans until it’s too late? Although the subject of death tends to be morbid, it doesn’t have to be. Without this planning, you could be in a hospital bed and your closest family member might not have the ability to make any decisions on your part, simply because you didn’t take simple precautions to name your health care proxy. End-of-life planning is ultimately about taking care of you and your family; it only makes sense to take advantage and learn about health care options that benefit you.
Hope this helps,
Tracy Lin
Works Cited
1. Bakalar, Nicholas. "SCAA | Education Materials." Welcome to TCS Software, Inc. ::
Dublin, OH. Web. 27 Dec. 2010.
2. Bryant, Clifton D. Handbook of Death & Dying. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications,
2003. Print.
3. Hutchison, Courtney, and Monica Nista. "Brittany Murphy's Death Remains A Mystery
ABC News." ABCNews.com - ABCNews.com: Breaking News, Politics, World News,
Good Morning America, Exclusive Interviews - ABC News. 22 Dec. 2009. Web. 27
Dec. 2010.
4. Joe Weber. "Death Panels Are Back: “Obama Lied and My Mama Died” | Death and
Taxes." Indie Music News, Pop Culture, Politics and Entertainment | Death and
Taxes. 27 Dec. 2010. Web. 04 Jan. 2011.
5. Nedely. "Re: Death by Natural Causes - What Does It Mean? (dental, Doctor, Heart) -
Health and Wellness -Doctors, Illness, Diseases, Nutrition, Sleep, Stress, Diet,
Hospitals, Medicine, Cancer, Heart Disease - City-Data Forum." Web log
comment. Stats about All US Cities - Real Estate, Relocation Info, House Prices,
Home Value Estimator, Recent Sales, Cost of Living, Crime, Race, Income, Photos,
Education, Maps, Weather, Houses, Schools, Neighborhoods, and More. 25 Dec.
2009. Web. 27 Dec. 2010.
6. Pear, Robert. "Obama Returns to End-of-Life Plan That Caused Stir." NYTimes.com. The
New York Times, 25 Dec. 2010. Web. 3 Jan. 2011.
7. PopEater Staff. "Brittany Murphy Likely Died From Natural Causes, Says Coroner |
PopEater.com." Celebrities | Entertainment News | Celebrity Gossip | Celebrity
Photos | PopEater.com. 21 Dec. 2009. Web. 27 Dec. 2010.
8. Rose, Sandra. "Medical Minute: Death By Natural Causes." Sandra Rose. 5 Jan. 2010.
Web. 27 Dec. 2010.
9. Schumacher, J. Donald. "Why End-of-life Planning Is Smart, Necessary - CNN.com."
CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. 28
Dec. 2010. Web. 03 Jan. 2011.
10. Swenson, Jim, and Susannah Sample. "Death by Natural Causes." NEWTON/ANL Home
Page. 11 Apr. 2005. Web. 27 Dec. 2010.
11. World Health Organization. "Annex Table 2 Deaths by Cause, Sex and Mortality Stratum
in WHO Regions, Estimates for 2002." Chart. The World Health Report 2004. France:
Keith Wynn, 2004. 120-21. Print.
This isa good question Daniel. I have had famiily members tell me that my older relatives and friends passed away from old age. I always thought of it as a way to protect the young ears of children, so they do not feel the pain of losing someone.
ReplyDeleteTracy, you do a great job of moving this topic from one specific subject, old age, to the underlying causes of what can happen to those of us who are at that age. This not only helps show the mortality of all humans, but shows that it happens to all of us and at any time (using your pop-culture reference). I also thought that the reference to the so-what of the issue, end-of-life planning, is extremely well voiced. It is something many people decide not to do because they beleive that they have more time on this earth than they might have. So, overallyou connect this issue from a question of judgment of cause of death to being more proactive and realistic in our own lifesyles.
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ReplyDeleteI really liked this question. I had never really though about I had always figured that old age was just another way of saying that someone had just kind of stopped working.
ReplyDeleteWhich is what it is apparently you heart just kind of stops and you die of hear falure, but like you said their really isn't a cause your heart just got tired.
I really liked the manner you approched this question was very technical which is good becasue you really explained what the term "dying of old age really ment" I also liked the way you tied it into the issue of living a testimont, becasue it is a very big deal and a lot of people neglect the fact that they should have one.
Tracy I think you did a really great job in connected your question to a much broader topic. For example the Obama rummors I had not realized that rummors had caused so many issues for obama that he was forced to change his health care proposal. I really enjoyed your response NICE JOB TRACY!