Ever wonder what should be done with your body after you die? There are many options. Have a funeral service, be cremated, be buried, donate your organs, or donate your whole body to science. Many people are donating their bodies to science. They are called cadavers. There are many uses for cadavers. Donating your body can help doctors, help save lives, and help solve crimes. Cadavers are used for good causes. Not only can you donate your body, but you can still have a funeral service. You get the best of both worlds.
First, cadavers can help doctors, surgeons, nurses, and many other medical professions learn about the body. Doctors are able to see the whole body alive. It's not just in a book. They can see what it really looks like and where everything exactly is. They can look at where everything is and learn how it works. Cadavers can help new doctors or students in class learn about the body. At Georgetown University, students study cadavers for six months. They are able to take apart the body piece by piece to understand everything. For example, students will see what the spinal cord looks like and how it compares to a horse's tail. Without this experience, students wouldn't see the inside of a human until someone's life depended on it in surgery. Then the doctors wouldn't know what they were doing. Doctors also practice surgeries on cadavers. If doctors invent a new surgery, they have to practice this surgery to make sure it will work. An example of a surgery is plastic surgery. Surgeons use the heads of cadavers to practice cosmetic surgery. Surgeons need to do this because they need to learn how to perfect their skills. They perfect their skills on cadavers so they don't mess up on live people.
Living cadavers are also used to help the medical field. A living cadaver is brain dead. They are legally dead but biologically alive. New surgeries can be practiced on these cadavers. Also new devices can be practiced on cadavers. Doctors need to become familiar with the device before actually using it on someone. New devices include artificial lungs and hearts. New drugs are also being tested on live cadaver. Doctors will watch how the drug works and the effects on the cadavers. Depending on this, the doctors will then decide if the drug is worth using on patients. Some cadavers are intentionally given a disease to see the progress of the disease. This could help a doctor understand the disease. Also the doctor could find a treatment to the disease. It could change the world if a cure could be found for an incurable disease. It could save many lives and let people have a better quality and longer life. Unlike dead cadavers, after surgeries, doctors can see how the effects from it and see what they did wrong that they could fix on the next person.
Cadavers can also have an autopsy done them. Doctors and medical students can study the autopsy. They can also study the medical history on the cadaver. Medical students could diagnose what could have been wrong with person. They could have seen what doctors missed that could have killed that person. They could also know how to treat the condition the cadaver may have had. If it is genetic, they would be able to tell the family. This could save someone's life because another family member may have the same condition and could not know they had it. . They could get tested and may be able to prevent it or treat the condition. It could also help the doctor find new treatments or a cure to the condition. This could have save many lives.
Second, donating your body can help save people's lives in many ways. Organs and tissues can be donated. Thousands of people around the world are waiting for an organ. They could be waiting for a kidney, pancreas, liver, lung, heart, or intestinal organ. People are depending on others to donate their organs so they can live longer. Many people may need a tissue transplant. Tissue, bone, and heart valves can be donated. This could help improve a person's quality of life. Cadavers are also used as crash test dummies to save lives. Cadavers are used in test crashes to study the effects of the crash. Scientists study how the impact affects the cadaver. They study how the seatbelt works. It is proven seatbelts save lives. The seatbelt was invented because of testing cars. They also study how the car can be improved to save lives. Scientists test side impact, head-on, fender bender, sudden stop, and many other types of car crashes. They may even focus on hitting one part of the body. This could help them see the maximum amount of force could be exerted before too much damage is done to the body. Then they could modify the car to make sure that much force would not be exerted on the passenger. They do all possible tests to save a person's life. Before a car is manufactured, it is tested. This saves many, many lives.
Cadavers are also used to help NASA. NASA uses cadavers to also save lives. Recently, they used cadavers to test the Orion Capsule. The scientists needed to know where to land the capsule, in the water or on land. Cadavers would help determine if humans would be injured with either landing. They look at the spinal cord and internal organ injures especially. The tests also helped fix the seats and suits. NASA also uses cadavers to study the radiation in space. They tested the exposure to radiation over a period of time. Scientists need to know the amount of radiation is exposed to keep the astronauts safe in space. Not only can this save lives, but it can help the human race to fly into space safely.
The Army is also known for using cadavers. The Army needs to test equipment to see how safe it is. They could use cadavers to test the safety. In 1999, researches used cadavers. They put them in a full body uniform. They tested the best shoes to wear when over minefields. Researchers have put cadavers in bulletproof vests. They tested an air cannon on the cadavers. This helped them realize that it only broke a couple of ribs. It did not seriously injure the cadaver. This could save many soldiers' lives. Bulletproof vests were tested to make sure the soldiers could endure almost any shot fired at them.
Donating your body to science can help solve crimes. A body farm is very useful in many ways. Scientists study how the body decomposes. Forensic anthropologists provide information and the identity of the body. They also tell the means and time of death of the body. Forensic anthropologists can look at the soil around the bones to help look for evidence. They can look at the soil to see how long the body has been letting out fluids. They wouldn't be able to do this without the research from the body farms. Forensic anthropologists can tell if an animal has taken bones and spread them throughout the area. Scientists can determine how long the body has been decomposing. They can look at the flies and maggots. They can look at how old they are and the different stages of life they are in to determine how long they have been on the body.
Body farms have different focuses depending on the place. Scientists study how the body decomposes due to weather. Heat can speed up the decomposition process. They have to take this into consideration. In Tennessee, they study buried bodies and unburied bodies. They also study them from underwater or in the trunks of cars. They also can but cadavers in concrete or a plastic to bag to see how it decomposes. They are trying to get all aspects of decomposition to make sure they can solve as many crimes as they can. In Western Carolina, they focus on how the body decomposes in mountainous areas. In Texas, the facility focuses on how a body decomposes in the desert climate. They bodies are placed in different locations at different times. They are also being looked at to analyze what is happening to the body. Forensic anthropologists can determine the sex, race, age, and body type by just looking at the skeleton bones. Different bones are different sizes on men and women. There needs to be more body farms all over the world because of different climates. This can only be done if more people are willing to donate their body.
Donating your body to science can be important to you. Maybe you have wanted to save people's lives. Some people have saved people's lives their whole like. They feel like its destiny to help people. Some people just want the recognition that they saved a life. Donating your body can do this. You will always be remembered as someone that was kind and thoughtful enough to donate their body. If you donate your body, you can still have funeral services. Donating your body to science can save more than one life.
In conclusion, people should donate their bodies to science for many reasons. The major reason is to save someone's life. Cadavers can help doctors, nurses, and surgeons understand the body and practice surgeries. Someone can donate their organs and tissues to save at least one person's life. Cadavers can be used as crash test dummies. This can help improve the car's safety and save lives. Cadavers can also help solve crimes. Researchers can study how the body decomposes to help investigators gain evidence on a case. So the question is, will you donate your body to science?
I really enjoyed reading Stiff. I found everything very interesting. I did not know what was done with cadavers. I think it is cool that surgeons get to practice surgeries. I think it is important for surgeons to practice so they are ready for the real surgeries. If I was going to have a surgery, I would want my doctor to have plenty of practice so it is perfect. I would want to live through the surgery. I also think it is important for people to donate their organs. It could save lives. I'm glad cadavers are used to test cars. It invented the seatbelt which has saved thousands of lives. They are making the cars as safe as possible.
Reading Stiff has made me really think about donating my body to science. I want to be able to save people's lives as my profession. I think it shouldn't stop when I die. I want to save as many lives as I can. Reading this book as made me realize all the good things that happen to cadavers. I think my body being in the ground is not helping anyone. It is pointless. I might as well save a life. Doctors could also find a cure to something using my body. That could make me a legend. I could change many lives with the new cure. I think donating my body to science is the best idea.
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