Rigor mortis

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(Redirected from Rigormortis) Ten things you may not know about images on Wikipedia Jump to: navigation, search Pallor mortis (Latin: paleness of death) is a postmortem paleness which happens almost instantaneously (in the 15 1!" minutes after the death) #ecause of a lac$ of capillary circulation throughout the #ody% &aleness develops so rapidly after death that it has little to no use in determining the time of death

Algor mortis (Latin: algorcoolness; mortisof death) is the reduction in body temperature following death !his is generally a steady decline until matching ambient temperature, although e"ternal factors can ha#e a significant influence $ measured rectal temperature can gi#e some indication of the time of death $lthough the heat conduction which leads to body cooling follows an e"ponential decay cur#e, it can be appro"imated as a linear process: between % and % &' Fahrenheit per hour until the body nears ambient temperature !he Glaister equation (%), for e"ample, is (98.4 F rectal temperature) / 1.5, gi#ing hours elapsed since death $s decomposition occurs the internal body temperature tends to rise again Livor mortis or postmortem lividity (Latin: livorbluish color, mortis of death), one of the signs of death, is a settling of the blood in the lower (dependent) portion of the body, causing a purplish red discoloration of the skin: when the heart is no longer agitating the blood, hea#y red blood cells sink through the serum by action of gra#ity !his discoloration does

not occur in the areas of the body that are in contact with the ground or another ob*ect, as the capillaries are compressed +oroners can use the presence or absence of li#or mortis as a means of determining an appro"imate time of death !he presence of li#or mortis is an indication not to start +,-, or to stop it if it is in progress .t can also be used by forensic in#estigators to determine whether or not a body has been mo#ed (for instance, if the body is found lying face down but the pooling is present on its back, in#estigators can determine that the body was originally positioned face up) Li#or mortis starts /0 minutes to 1 hours after death and is congealed in the capillaries in 2 to & hours 3a"imum li#idity occurs within 45%/ hours !he body of a li#ing organism begins to decompose (as part of a succession) shortly after death 6uch decomposition can be simplified in two stages: .n the first stage, it is limited to the production of #apors .n the second stage, li7uid materials form and the flesh or plant matter begins to decompose !he science which studies such decomposition generally is called taphonomy 8istorically, the progression of decomposition of a li#ing organism has been described as taking place in four stages: fresh (autolysis), bloat (putrefaction), decay (putrefaction and carni#ores) and dry (diagenesis)

[edit] Process

9ecomposition begins at the moment of death, caused by two factors: autolysis, the breaking down of tissues by the ,allor mortis body:s own internal chemicals and en;ymes; and $lgor mortis -igor mortis putrefaction, the breakdown of tissues by bacteria !hese Li#or mortis processes release gases that are the chief source of the Decompositio characteristic odor of dead bodies !hese gases swell the n body 6ca#engers play an important role in decomposition .nsects and other animals are typically the ne"t agent of decomposition, if the body is accessible to them !he most important insects that are typically in#ol#ed in the process include the fleshflies (6arcophagidae) and blowflies (+alliphoridae) !he green5bottle fly seen in the summer is a blowfly Larger sca#engers, including coyotes, dogs, wol#es, fo"es, rats, and mice may eat a body if it is accessible to them 6ome of these animals also remo#e and scatter bones

Signs of death

[edit] Factors
!he rate and manner of decomposition in an animal body is strongly affected by a number of factors .n roughly descending degrees of importance, they are:

'emperature 'he availa#ility of o(ygen &rior em#alming )ause of death *urial, and depth of #urial +ccess #y scavengers 'rauma, including wounds and crushing #lows ,umidity, or wetness Rainfall *ody si-e and weight )lothing 'he surface on which the #ody rests .oods/o#0ects inside the specimens digestive tract (#acon compared to

lettuce)

!he speed at which decomposition occurs #aries greatly Factors such as temperature, humidity, and the season of death all determine how fast a fresh body will skeletoni;e or mummify $ basic guide for the effect of en#ironment on decomposition is gi#en as +asper:s Law (or -atio): when there is free access of air a body decomposes twice as fast than if immersed in water and eight times faster than if buried in earth !he most important #ariable is a body:s accessibility to insects, particularly flies <n the surface in tropical areas, in#ertebrates alone can easily reduce a fully fleshed corpse to clean bones in under two weeks !he skeleton itself is not permanent; acids in soils can reduce it to unrecogni;able components !his is one reason gi#en for the lack of human remains found in the wreckage of the Titanic, e#en in parts of the ship considered inaccessible to sca#engers Freshly skeletoni;ed bone is often called =green= bone and has a characteristic greasy feel >nder certain conditions (normally cool, damp soil), bodies may undergo saponification and de#elop a wa"y substance called adipocere, caused by the action of soil chemicals on the body:s proteins and fats !he formation of adipocere slows decomposition by inhibiting the bacteria that cause putrefaction .n e"tremely dry or cold conditions, the normal process of decomposition is halted by either lack of moisture or temperature controls on bacterial and en;ymatic action causing the body to be preser#ed as a mummy Fro;en mummies commonly restart the decomposition process when thawed, whilst heat5desiccated mummies remain so unless e"posed to moisture !he bodies of newborns who ne#er ingested food are an important e"ception to the normal process of decomposition !hey lack the internal microbial flora that produce much of decomposition and 7uite commonly mummify if kept in e#en moderately dry conditions

[edit] Embalming

?mbalming is the practice of delaying decomposition of human and animal remains ?mbalming slows decomposition somewhat, but does not forestall it indefinitely ?mbalmers typically pay great attention to parts of the body seen by mourners, such as the face and hands !he chemicals used in embalming repel most insects, and slow down bacterial putrefaction by =fi"ing= cellular proteins, which means that they cannot act as a nutrient for bacteria, and killing the bacteria themsel#es .n sufficiently dry en#ironments, an embalmed body may end up mummified and it is not uncommon for bodies in dry #aults to remain preser#ed to a #iewable e"tent after decades, such as the murdered ci#il rights acti#ist 3edgar ?#ers $nother case of this would be the body of @ladimir Lenin, who was kept submerged in a special tank of fluid for decades, almost perfectly preser#ed Aodies submerged in peat bog may become naturally =embalmed=, arresting decomposition and resulting in a preser#ed specimen known as a bog body !he body of ?#ita ,eron was kept perfectly preser#ed for many years, and as far as is known, may still be so (her body is no longer on display as it once was) !he time for an embalmed body to be reduced to a skeleton #aries greatly ?#en when a body is decomposed, embalming treatment can still be achie#ed (the arterial system decays slower) but would not restore a natural appearance without e"tensi#e reconstruction and cosmetic work, and is largely used to control the foul odours due to decomposition

[edit] Importance to orensics

@arious sciences study the decomposition of bodies !hese sciences fall under the general rubric of forensics, because the usual moti#e for study of the decomposition of human bodies is to determine the time and cause of death, for legal purposes:

.orensic pathology studies the clues to the cause of death found in the corpse as a medical phenomenon .orensic entomology studies the insects and other vermin found in corpses1 the se2uence in which they appear, the $inds of insects, and where they are found in their life cycle are clues that can shed light on

the time of death, the length of a corpse3s e(posure, and whether the corpse was moved%

.orensic anthropology is the #ranch of physical anthropology that studies s$eletons and human remains, usually to see$ clues as to the identity, race, and se( of their former owner%

!he Aody Farm, at the >ni#ersity of !ennessee in Bno"#ille has a number of bodies laid out in #arious situations in a fenced5in plot near the medical center 6cientists at the >ni#ersity study how the human body decays in #arious circumstances to gain a better understanding into decomposition

+ decaying peach over a period of si( days% 4ach frame is appro(imately 1! hours apart, as the peach shrivels and #ecomes covered with mold%

[edit] !ee also

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Signs of death
This article is about the sign of death. or other uses! see "igor ,allor mortis $lgor mortis mortis (disambiguation).

Rigor mortis Li#or mortis 9ecompositio n

Rigor mortis is one of the recogni;able signs of death (Latin mors mortis) that is caused by a chemical change in the muscles after death, causing the limbs of the corpse to become stiff (Latin rigor) and difficult to mo#e or manipulate

"ontents
6hide7

1 *iochemistry ! .orensics 8 Rigor mortis and the meat industry

9 :ee also

[edit] #ioc$emistry
!he biochemical cause of rigor mortis is hydrolysis of $!,, the chemical energy source re7uired for mo#ement, in the muscle tissue 3yosin molecules de#oid of $!, become permanently adherent to actin filaments to form actomyosin comple", causing muscles to become rigid $fter the p8 of the muscle has become & &, release of autolytic en;ymes stored in lysosomes will take place !he ma*or proteolytic en;ymes are +athepsins and +alpains !hese en;ymes act at the myofibrillar proteins and hydrolyse them $s a result, the actomyosin comple" is broken down and muscles become =soft= again !his is known as resolution o! rigor

[edit] Forensics
-igor 3ortis is important in forensics as it allows the pathologist to estimate time of death and to determine position of the body at time of death +onditions similar to rigor mortis include free;ing of the body, heat coagulation, putrefaction and cada#eric spasm

[edit] Rigor mortis and t$e meat industry

-igor mortis is #ery important in meat technology !he onset of rigor mortis and its resolution partially determines the tenderness of meat .f the post5slaughter meat is immediately chilled to %& '+, a phenomenon known as cold shortening occurs, where the muscle shrinks to a third of its original si;e !his will lead to the loss of water from the meat along with many of the #itamins, minerals, and water soluble proteins !he loss of water makes the meat hard and interferes with the manufacturing of se#eral meat products like cutlet and sausage +old shortening is caused by the release of stored calcium ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of muscle fibers in response to the cold stimulus !he calcium ions trigger powerful muscle contraction aided by $!, molecules !o pre#ent cold shortening, a process known as electrical stimulation is carried out, especially in beef carcass, immediately after slaughter and flaying .n this process, the carcass is stimulated with alternating current, causing it to contract and rela", which depletes the $!, reser#e from the carcass and pre#ents cold shortening

[edit] !ee also

)adaveric spasm

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+ategories: $rticles needing additional references from Cune /00D E 6igns of death E Latin medical phrases