X-Message-Number: 8704
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 18:19:06 -0500
From: Paul Wakfer <>
Subject: Re: #8703: Lysosomes, Autolysis & Brain Cell "Suicide"

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Date:	11/2/97  2:01 AM

RE:	CryoNet #8703

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On Sat, 01 Nov 1997 14:55:46 +0000 (GMT),  (Randy) wrote:

>During suffocation or drowning, cells
>become more acidic inside, which makes lysosome membranesbreak down
>and release their caustic jiuces. Brain cells are the first to undergo
>this reaction, often destroying themselves in four or five minutes
>after breathing stops."

Randy, you must be careful when reading out-of-date, or layman's level
biology books. This is an old theory which has now been proven false.
While it is true that in general, and eventually lysosomes can and do
act as your book described, they do not do so nearly as quickly as the
book stated. There are numerous research results, and proven individual
instances of animals and people showing complete return of mental
function after periods of total body ischemia far longer than "four or
five minutes". Recents efforts by several independent labs have
consistently achieved complete recovery for times up to 15 minutes.

-- Paul --

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