1
Mar
Mar
if the heart still beats after respiration ceases, how long will it continue to beat before it stops? Do you know which rate will it beat and which rhythm or rhythms would precede cardiac arrest due to respiratory arrest? Especially in barbiturate and heroin overdoses?
Answer:
The heart can beat 4-5 minutes after you stop breathing, but I have heard stories of the heart beating for hours after someone stps visibly breathing.
Drugs depress the brain portion that controls breathing. Excessive drug use leads to a relaxation of the body –> the brain stops telling your system to "breathe" and so you just stop breathing.
The heart rhythm may change but it eventually stops. It will not get oxygen, and the electrical stimulous responsible for making the heart beat stops sending instructions to the heart to beat.
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on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 11:03 am and is filed under Respiratory Diseases.
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