Decapitation

Decapitation, or beheading, is the removal of a living being's head, inevitably resulting in death. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, or knife, or by means of a guillotine. Accidental decapitation can be the result of an explosion, automobile or industrial accident or other violent injury. Suicide by decapitation is rare, but not unknown. In 2003 a British man killed himself by means of a home-made guillotine, constructed over a period of several weeks.

Related Topics:
Head - Death - Murder - Execution - Axe - Sword - Knife - Guillotine - Explosion - Suicide - 2003

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Separation of the head from the rest of the body always results in death in humans: there is heavy bleeding from both the head and decapitated body, causing a massive drop in blood pressure and rapid loss of consciousness followed quickly by brain death. Even if the bleeding were stopped, the lack of circulation to supply oxygen to the brain would rapidly lead to brain death. No known medical emergency treatment can save a decapitated patient. In theory, connecting a cardiac pump to a severed head might keep it alive, but this is not known to have ever been tried in practice. However, head transplants have been carried out successfully in monkeys; the first stage of such a transplant, of course, is a surgical decapitation (in which, however, great care is taken to maintain the blood supply by means of catheterization). Thus, survival of a head separated from its body is not an inherent impossibility.

Related Topics:
Death - Brain death - Oxygen - Brain - Medical emergency - Cardiac pump - Head transplant - Catheter

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An even more gruesome issue is whether a decapitated head retains consciousness after separation from the body. The issue has been debated many times, especially in the context of whether beheading is or is not a humane form of execution (see below). No definitive answer has ever emerged. Many have argued that loss of consciousness would be virtually instantaneous, either as a result of the massive drop in cerebral blood pressure, or because of the impact of the severing implement. Nevertheless, anecdotal evidence, of varying degrees of credibility, has circulated for centuries that severed heads may, under some circumstances, retain consciousness for at least a few seconds.

Related Topics:
Consciousness - Humane - Execution

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The body of a decapitated chicken was once known to live for an additional 18 months. See Mike the Headless Chicken.

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The word decapitation can also refer, on occasion, to the removal of the head of someone who is already dead, i.e., to a corpse. This would have probably made the most sense for the purpose of displaying the head to prove the fact of the individual's death or to instill fear in the populace by illustrating the likely fate of an enemy of the authorities.

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