What Happens When We Die?

by PARNIA, SAM M.D.

• ISBN13: 9781401907105
• ISBN10: 1401907105
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-01-30
• Publisher: Hay House Inc.

Summary

Dr. Sam Parnia faces death everyday. Through his work as a critical-care doctor in the emergency room, he became very interested in some of his patients' accounts of the experiences that they had while clinically dead. He started to collect these stories and read all the latest research on the subject and decided to conduct his own experiments into the state of the human mind and brain at the end of life, by using a cardiac arrest model. That work has culminated in this extraordinary book, that picks up where Raymond Moody's book Life After Life left off. Dr. Parnia's experiments, and several others carried out independently into the state of human consciousness during cardiac arrest, suggest that the mind and consciousness may continue to function when the brain has stopped functioning and the clinical criteria of death has been met. Written in a scientific, balanced, and engaging style, this book is a powerful read.

Author Biography

Sam Parnia, M.D., is a leading expert on near-death experiences. He now spends his time in hospitals and Cornell University in New York, where he’s a Fellow in pulmonary and critical-care medicine. He founded the Consciousness Research Group and is chairman of the Horizon Research Foundation. Dr. Parnia is constantly in demand as a speaker, and he’s made numerous media appearances. His groundbreaking research was recently featured in the BBC 2 and Discovery documentary, The Day I Died. This is Dr. Parnia’s first book.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Dr. Peter Fenwick
Introduction	xiii
Near-Death Experiences from Antiquity to the Present Day	1	(30)
Setting Up the Southampton Study	31	(14)
What Is It Like to Die?	45	(26)
The Scientific Paradox	71	(28)
Understanding the Mind, the Brain, and Consciousness	99	(28)
The Ingredients of Life	127	(8)
Is It Real?	135	(16)
The Horizon	151	(14)
Implications for the Future	165	(14)
Acknowledgments	179	(2)
Further Information	181	(2)
Recommended Reading	183	(2)
Bibliography	185	(8)
Index	193	(8)
About the Author	201