Brain death
Overview
Brain death (also known as brain stem death) is when a person on an artificial life support machine no longer has any brain functions. This means they will not regain consciousness or be able to breathe without support.
Causes
Brain death can happen when the blood or oxygen supply to the brain is stopped. This can be caused by: cardiac arrest – when the heart stops beating and the brain is starved of oxygenaheart attack– when the blood supply to the heart is suddenly blockedastroke– when the blood supply to the brain is blocked or interruptedablood clot– a blockage in a blood vessel that disturbs or blocks the flow of blood around your body Brain death can also be caused by: a severehead injurya brain haemorrhageinfections, such asencephalitisabrain tumour