Death

Question 1

An irreversible loss of functioning in the entire brain, both the higher centers of the cerebral cortex that are involved in thought and the lower centers of the brain that control basic life processes such as breathing.

Answer 1

total brain death

Question 2

Literally, “good death”; specifically, hastening, either actively or passively, the death of someone suffering from an incurable illness or injury.

Answer 2

euthanasia

Question 3

Making available to individuals who wish to commit suicide the means by which they may do so, such as when a physician provides a terminally ill patient who wants to die with enough medication to overdose.

Answer 3

assisted suicide

Question 4

A document in which people state in advance that they do not wish to have extraordinary medical procedures applied if they are hopelessly ill.

Answer 4

living will

Question 5

Theories that emphasize the systematic genetic control of aging processes.

Answer 5

programmed theories of aging

Question 6

Theories that emphasize several haphazard processes that cause cells and organ systems to deteriorate.

Answer 6

damage theories of aging

Question 7

A ceiling on the number of years that any member of a species lives; 120 years for humans.

Answer 7

maximum life span

Question 8

A genetic disorder caused by a single dominant gene that makes victims age prematurely and die early.

Answer 8

progeria

Question 9

The estimate that human cells can double only 50 times, plus or minus 10, and then will die.

Answer 9

Hayflick limit

Question 10

A stretch of DNA that forms the tip of a chromosome and that shortens after each cell division, possibly timing the death of cells.

Answer 10

telomere

Question 11

Chemically unstable byproducts of metabolism that have an extra electron and react with other molecules to produce toxic substances that damage cells and contribute to aging.

Answer 11

free radicals

Question 12

Vitamins C, E, and similar substances that may increase longevity, although not for long, by inhibiting the free radical activity associated with oxidation and in turn preventing age-related diseases.

Answer 12

antioxidant

Question 13

A technique demonstrated to extend the life span of laboratory animals involving a highly nutritious but severely calorie restricted diet.

Answer 13

caloric restriction

Question 14

An individual who lives to be 100 years of age.

Answer 14

centenarian

Question 15

A defense mechanism in which anxiety-provoking thoughts are kept out of, or isolated from, conscious awareness.

Answer 15

denial

Question 16

A state of loss that provides the occasion for grief and mourning.

Answer 16

bereavement

Question 17

The emotional response to loss.

Answer 17

grief

Question 18

Culturally prescribed ways of displaying reactions to a loss.

Answer 18

mourning

Question 19

Grieving before death for what is happening and for what lies ahead.

Answer 19

anticipatory grief

Question 20

Model of grieving describing four predominant reactions to loss of an attachment figure: numbness, yearning, disorganization and despair, and reorganization.

Answer 20

Parkes/Bowlby attachment model of bereavement

Question 21

The view that both deliberate thought and more automatic emotion-based intuitions can inform decisions about moral issues and motivate behavior.

Answer 21

dual process model of morality

Question 22

Grief that is not fully recognized or appreciated by other people and therefore may not receive much sympathy and support, as in the loss of a gay partner.

Answer 22

disenfranchised grief

Question 23

An emotional response to a death that is unusually prolonged or intense and that impairs functioning.

Answer 23

complicated grief; pathological grief.

Question 24

The view commonly held, but now challenged, that to cope adaptively with death bereaved people must confront their loss, experience painful emotions, work through these emotions, and move toward a detachment from the deceased.

Answer 24

grief work perspective

Question 25

Maintenance of attachment to a loved one after the person’s death through reminiscence, use of the person’s possessions, consultation with the deceased, and the like.

Answer 25

continuing bond

Question 26

A program that supports dying persons and their families through a philosophy of caring rather than curing, either in a facility or at home.

Answer 26

hospice

Question 27

Care aimed not at curing but at meeting the physical, psychological, and spiritual needs of dying patients.

Answer 27

palliative care