It’s a horror film to make the hair of any dead person stand on end. After we pass from this for the better, our body loses its defenses and starts to be attacked from all sides: bacteria, animals and even substances produced by ourselves, start the end. The corpse becomes dark and swollen, the skin and organs fall apart and the brain turns to broth. After a while, there’s almost nothing left.
The decomposition takes place on two fronts. The first is the strangest: the body itself as itself. “When someone dies, oxygenation stops happening and the organism becomes unbalanced. Minerals such as sodium and potassium, important for metabolism, are no longer produced. As a result, the cells destabilize and begin to digest their own bodies”, says physiologist and professor of legal medicine Marco Aurélio Guimarães, from the University of São Paulo (USP).
At the same time, hungry bacteria also join the feast. The first to move into the meat are those of the intestinal flora and the respiratory mucosa, which already live in the body. To stay alive, these bacteria invade tissues and devour them. After that, bacteria from the environment render the corpse unrecognizable. The juicy rest is left to insects and even dogs, cats and vultures.
In general, a buried body takes one to two years to completely decompose, but this time can vary depending on the conditions of the environment and the corpse – if the dead person took antibiotics, for example, the process takes much longer. In the end, only bones and teeth remain, which last thousands of years longer than other organs. They are the main clue for experts to solve violent deaths.
dead life
Corpse becomes a feast for bugs and bacteria until only the bone is leftPOSTUMUM JUICE
The skin undergoes a radical transformation: first, it loses water and dries out, becoming yellow and wrinkled. With the attack of bacteria, it turns green and dilates. Then the bubbles appear. When they break, it’s the biggest mess: the skin starts to release liquids and, finally, falls apart.
HARD TO FALL
The cadaver begins to get hard a few hours after death because of calcium buildup in the muscles. The body of the dead person contracts and has legs and arms half bent. To stretch them, just give a pull – the story that you have to break the dead man’s bones to make him straight is nothing more than a legend
MILLENNIAL RESISTANCE
At the end of decomposition, only the bones and teeth of the corpse remain. The secret is that they are basically made up of minerals, while decomposing bacteria are only interested in organic matter. If the deceased is buried under normal conditions, away from moisture and excessive heat, these organs can last for thousands of years.
EXPLOSIVE ERECTION
As the skin around the penis is looser than that of other parts of the body, bacterial gases are more easily infiltrated there. As a result, said-whose has a false erection. But that doesn’t mean the deceased is excited: he just stretched out from the gaseous discharge.
HAM SCENT
During decomposition, the bacteria that consume the body manufacture by-products with an unpleasant odor. Substances like putrescine and cadaverine (jeez!) help the body to smell so bad. But the stink champion is hydrogen sulphide, which is also flammable.
NUDE WITH HAND IN POCKET
As that song by Silvio Santos says, “you don’t take anything from the world” — not even funeral clothes, which are also a delicacy much appreciated by bacteria. Cotton and other natural fibers wear out faster, in three or four years. Synthetic fabrics, such as nylon and polyester and other plastic derivatives, can last for decades
BLURRY VIEW
Like other organs, the eyes of the dead also become dehydrated. The cornea has a kind of viscous, whitish screen, similar to a veil. Later, when the bacteria and larvae start to act, the eyes are the favorite dish. Therefore, they are corroded quickly until they disappear completely.
BRAIN PORTE
Brain cells shut down between 3 and 7 minutes after death. Days later, when the gases of decomposition invade the organs, the brain tissues begin to break down. From there, the gray mass becomes a viscous liquid with the consistency of a clay-colored porridge, which can run out of the nostrils.
COLD BLOOD
As soon as the blood stops circulating, it loses oxygen and becomes darker. In 8 to 12 hours, it starts to clot, getting the consistency of a guava jam. In the end, due to the action of gravity, the blood is concentrated in the lower part of the body, in regions such as the back, legs and feet.
GROWTH BEYOND
Have you ever heard that talk that hair, fur and nails grow after death? And truth! They are made of keratin, a very resistant protein. In the case of hair and fur, the structure where the hairs develop doesn’t even notice that the blood flow is over. But this only lasts for 24 hours, when the hairs can grow a maximum of 0.05 cm.
INTERNAL DESTRUCTION
By the action of bacteria, the organs detach from the structure of the body and fall apart. The ones that decompose the fastest are the lungs (which have thin tissues), the intestines (which already have bacteria that help with digestion) and the pancreas (whose enzymes act in the decomposition). One of the ones that take the longest is the liver, as it is one of the largest organs in the human body.