General Chat

Brenda,I respect your beliefs,but I could not stand by and see a child die if I knew there was a way of saving that childs life, If that offends God then so be it! But I honestly dont think it would.to me it would be against God to allow the child to die. The Bible has many things in it that to be honest Conflict,thats where each persons Interpretation comes In. With respect Roxanne

My Father in law's life was saved by having a blood transfusion 40 years ago, he had a burst ulcer, and it was touch and go. Had he not of had that transfusion, that would be 40 years we wouldn't of had him. Nobody died by giving him there blood, no side effects, just my lovely Father in Law, fit and healthy for 40 extra years, GIVE BLOOD Lynda

Purely on the use of blood subtitutes in surgery - speaking as a Nurse who until recently worked for many years in a busy Multiple Injuries Unit, there are 2 types of blood substitutes which can be used to repalce blood loss to a certain degree, but neither can replace the use of blood entirely. Volume expanders do just that - they replace blood volume without any of the constituents of blood, but are very useful in the short term. If the body continues to lose blood, the volume expander will eventually dilute the oxygen carrying ability of the blood to such an extent, the cells will start to die. Oxygen therapeutics mimic the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood, but again their use is limited as the blood has many more functions than just carrying oxygen. I hope this helps, Liz :-)

I am sorry Brends, I disagree. Blood is a scarce and costly resource - the medical staff would far rather get a unit of colloid from a cupboard to replace blood loss, far easier and cheaper. But in a lot of cases only blood will do, IF it is available, which it frequently isn't. Liz

Thanks Liz, good to see there are some ways to cope if blood itself cannot be used. It seems from what you say though that they are only usable if blood loss can be controlled. Maz. XX

Hi Brenda, you are entitled to your beliefs of course, but I think you have been misinformed on this issue. From what Liz says there is no substitute for severe blood loss, ie from an accident, stabbing, bomb blast etc. Have a good evening. Maz. XX

Yes Maz, that is exactly it! Btw, can I point out that I am speaking purely from my own experience, and am by no means an expert lol. Liz x

Oh dear, this one again! I would just love to see the faces on all these believers in the afterlife when at the great moment -- they find nothing. Andy falls into hole in ground laughing! The dead body breaks down into it's constituent molecules. That's it! The dead person exists only as a human memory in the minds of the still living. When forgotten gone completely. I'm very happy with that natural outcome, and I speak as someone who looked death in the face twice last year.

Andy,You sound like my hubby!!lol thats the way he feels too. I dont,Im sure theres far more to us than flesh and blood, But thats only my belief,I cant prove anything, but If Im right you can apologise on the other side!lol;-))

lol Andy - thing with me is that there are certain people I would love to see again so I believe I will. If there's nothing after, I won't be disappointed cos I won't know but I will have gone through life with this nice idea of being reunited with those I've loved so it's a winning situation either way:)

My Mum used to say If you wake up dead you'll be sorry :)) I think that when folk pass on, we are obviously devastated, but if there is life after, it would be a waste of our time here to be miserable, so we must carry on. If there isn't life after, well again no point in wasting our time here, enjoy life to the max.

Lynda,I like what your mum said:-)) And agree with your Wise words:-))

Andy, Im glad someone feels the same as me

Is consciousness (id, mind, soul or inner being) a form of energy? Many believe so - in fact this is borne out by it being associated with a chemical/electrical activity in the brain so it follows, that when the body dies, consciousness cannot be lost but, to obey the laws of physics, must be transmuted into another form. Len

From long before birth the human brain has developed a vast network of interacting components capable of developing only when stimulated by sensory perception of its environment. It has sorted male from female at about 6 to 7 weeks and hard-wired them accordingly. No stimulation and the neurons atrophy and, eventually, disappear forever. Sight, speech, hearing and smell to name a few of our senses will never develop to a useful degree if not used in early childhood (i.e. by about 7). If none of the brain areas involved in the senses is activated by sensory input, the brain will remain permanently dysfunctional. Apart from this, the brain also needs food as it's consumption of energy, when working, can be greater than that of the muscles. There are some areas of the developing brain that, according to many neurologists, are superfluous and seem to serve no purpose (which means they don't know the purpose). To me, it seems highly unlikely that such a marvellous engine as the human brain could be so wasteful and install programmes without a use. My humble PC has capabilities beyond my dreams but, being a thinker rather than a scientist, I look forward to one day understanding, rather than being dismissive, of what it may be able to do. To quote from Arthur Winter MD, Neurosurgeon and Director of the New Jersey Neurological Institute: 'The organ never ceases to amaze me..... One of the most fruitful areas of recent research concerns brain potential. There is an observation about which there is unanimous agreement among neurological researchers - humans use only a fraction of their brain's true potential' Some people seem to use less than that (my words). Len

Life is not a rehearsal, we only have one go at it so live it well. No, I dont believe in an after life anymore.

Who gave you that great piece of information, Bella Donna ? And did you question their motives in supplying it? Len

Upon re-reading some of the comments here, it reminded me of one very good sermon I once heard about death and after life. The priest was explaining that we all have 3 'lives / existences'. One in the uterus, one here on earth and one in Heaven or as some say 'on the other side'. He also said it would be no good trying to explain to a baby in the womb that 'it' would come out of there into the world one day because 'it' wouldn't be able to understand. He then added that the same goes for our next 'passage / life'. There was no point in Jesus explaining what it would be like because our 'earthly' intelligence wouldn't be able to grasp what he meant. Hope that makes sense. Margaret

Following on from Len's discussion regarding the brain - in Oz we have a very talented man named John Joseph who works with educators and students regarding the latest brain research and applying this to learning and motivation. It's a fascinating field. I'm going to a workshop of his next week - went to one a few years ago - and I'm really loolking forward to it. He has amazing visuals of the brain and how the neurons function etc. Shall pass on any fascinating insights I might acquire! Anna

Tracy Blackburn's thread 'Life After Death - How Many Believe?' has re-surfaced. Well worth a read if you have a couple of hours to spare. len