Death and the Brain

the family of Jahi McMath (facebook)

The recent case of Jahi McMath, the 13-year-old who underwent surgery to remove her tonsils, adenoids, and uvula and was declared brain dead three days later, is tragic indeed. Her parents seem to be insisting that there is hope for her, that she may wake up. I know I would do the same. But a subhead in the paper version of the Los Angeles Times, "Reports describing the teen, who is brain dead, as possibly alive complicate a thorny issue, experts say" (http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-brain-death-20140106,0,5643888.story#axzz2pmOa8fPU), had me wondering how objective such a diagnosis is. And what's the difference between brain death and a coma? How long should someone be kept alive by machines when there is no electrical activity in the brain? (story, video): http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/06/health/brain-dead-basics/