Many people think death happens when the heart stops beating and the lungs stop breathing, but machines can support those functions when the brain no longer can
Most people die not on machines,” so it’s not necessary to evaluate them for brain death, Caplan says.
“Typically, brain death starts with some sort of devastating neurologic injury,” Tawil says. “That can come in many different forms.” They include traumatic brain injury, a stroke caused by a ruptured blood vessel in the brain, or if the heart has stopped and the brain goes without oxygen and other nutrients it needs to survive for a long period of time.