If there is one thing that it is certain, it’s that science has proven that our bodies
have the ability to smell death.
We don’t have to be able to pinpoint what that smell is, but we certainly know how to
react to it.
If you thought that the sense of smell directly relies on how you interpret it, you’re “dead
wrong.”
We are more than capable of detecting many different smells, many of which we have no
clue on how to interpret, but we react to them in a variety of ways.
For example, we are able to detect chemo signals, which we identify as threats and fear of attraction.
This is the same case when we smell death.
A recent study was conducted on the behavioral effects of putrescine on humans which show
that we are no different than the way animals behave when exposed to this scent.
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When animals are exposed to the scent of putrescine, they associate it with two kinds of danger:
the first being that a predator that is higher in the food chain is nearby.
The second is that certain pathogens are present that can put their life in danger if physical
contact is made.
In both of these cases, animals responded by staying away from the area.
Under no circumstances did the animals want to take the chance/risk of being harmed or
potentially dying.
Now, for the study that was conducted on humans, researchers tested human reaction based on
four different aspects.
1 Vigilance: The first experiment, scientists tested the subjects vigilance after being
briefly exposed to the scent of putrescine.
In contrast, they also exposed other participants to the scent of ammonia and water.
The results illustrated that the subjects who were exposed to putrescine reacted with
more vigilance, or in other words, reacted more quickly compared to those who were exposed
to ammonia and water.
The dictionary defines vigilance as "the action or state of keeping careful watch for possible
danger or difficulties.”
When a person is exposed to the scent of putrescine, they become more alert.
In modern psychology, vigilance is also known as sustained concentration.
It is considered to be the ability to concentrate on something for extended periods of times.
While a person is in a state of vigilance, he or she watches for a signal stimulus.
2 Escape Behavior: The second experiment that the research team conducted was they exposed
an unsuspected group of people to the smell of putrescine and asked them to rate it based
on intensity, repugnance and familiarity.
They also wanted to see how quickly the subjects would walk away at a 80m distance.
The results from the experiment showed that those who were able to smell and familiarize
themselves with the scent of putrescine, walked away far more quickly than those who were
unsure of the smell.
This proves that the smell evoked a sense of escape.
Escape behaviour can result in many different actions.
From self injury to running away, there are several different actions that occur as a
result of this type of behaviour, although each action involves attempting to escape
from a situation.
Certain people who use escape behavior can become accustomed to it.
This behavior then becomes an automatic response when someone is in a situation of distress.
When this type of behavior is seen in children, in particular, it is important to understand
why the child is feeling the need to escape, and what about the entire situation is causing
the child to be in distress.
3 Escape-and Threat-Relate Cognition: In another experiment, researchers gave participants
a word stem-completion task shortly after they were exposed to the scent.
What was interesting was that the results showed that the scent of putrescine caused
participants to constantly use escape words and threat words.
This means that patients who were exposed to the scent began developing anxiety and
using escape words as well as threats to get out of the situation.
They felt as if they were being faced with a threat that they could not overcome and
wanted to escape from this threat.
4 Defensiveness and Hostility: The final experiment had participants be exposed to the scent and
they were given a text to read while the scent was present.
They were to evaluate the author of the text after reading it.
Despite not being able to determine the scent of putrescine, participants definitely showed
a defensive and extremely hostile attitude towards the author.
The results proved that exposure to the smell evoked defensive behavior.
This means that participants became defensive and even scared when exposed to the scent,
bringing about an inner defensive behavior to protect themselves.
When someone gets defensive, they then become hostile to try and protect themselves, which
can explain why certain participants reacted this way.
So now that you know your nose has the ability to sense when death is around, you should
also never ignore the following signs that your body is telling you, they may save your
life.
Changes in Breathing: As you get older, it can become a lot harder to breathe.
You may find that you are taking deeper breaths, or breathing a lot quicker.
But one thing you do need to monitor is the amount of times you stop breathing.
When death is approaching, an irregular breathing pattern called Cheyne-Stokes respirations
is common in people who are dying.
In this pattern, breathing is very deep and rapid, followed by short breaths, and then
a period of not breathing.
This abnormal breathing pattern typically results in a type of breathing called apnea.
Once the pattern of deep and fast breathing followed by gradual breaking repeats, it lasts
for about 30 seconds to two minutes.
Symptoms of cheyne stokes respiration, which is also known as periodic respiration, include
excessive daytime sleepiness and / or fatigue which is caused by several periods of interrupted
sleep.
Other symptoms include orthopnea, which is the shortness of breath when someone is lying
down.
Another symptom is paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, which is shortness of breath and bad coughing
fits which typically occur at night, disrupting a person's sleep.
Causes of this strange condition are not fully known, although scientists suggest that it
could be linked to instability in the respiratory control system due to changing levels of oxygen
and carbon dioxide in a person's blood, which can cause apnea and hyperventilation.
Scientists also state that it could be caused by delayed circulation time, which is increased
in people who have congestive heart failure as well as cheyne stokes respiration.
This is linked to abnormal breathing cycles.
Cheyne stokes respiration typically occurs in people who suffer from neurological conditions
or congestive heart failure.
It is also related to sleep apnea syndrome.
Cheyne stokes respiration is also linked to several different health conditions, including
brain tumors, altitude sickness, kidney failure, brain injury, carbon monoxide poisoning, and
more.
Drowsiness: When death is approaching someone, they tend to sleep more or become drowsy very
frequently.
For example, they may end up dozing off while in mid-conversation.
For example, a cancer patient who is close to death may sleep more than usual and find
it difficult to wake up or stay awake.
They may also lose consciousness very slowly in the days or even the hours leading up to
their death.
It may be very difficult for the cancer patient to stay up and maintain a conversation.
They may be able to hear you even if they are unconscious, but will not able to respond.
Delirium: At times, someone who is dying may become very restless and/or confused.
It can start with not remembering what happened the previous week, and could worsen to not
remembering loved ones and forgetting what day it is.
A person who is on the verge of dying may also experience anxiety or paranoia, which
can lead to disorientation and eventually delirium.
They may also even begin to experience hallucinations.
Their sleeping cycle may also change, meaning they may stay awake at night and sleep during
the day.
Delirium can be caused by infections, drugs, disease, brain metastases, changes in metabolism,
and more.
Changes in Skin: Someone whose body is potentially shutting down will see a change in their skin.
It can look pale, bluish or blotchy.
It could become dry and very flaky.
You may also notice that there is redness over the joints of their hands and legs.
Other signs that death may be approaching include loss of bladder or bowel control and
eating and drinking less.
What do you think are some of the most interesting signs our bodies show that death is approaching?
Let us know in the comments section below!