Human cryogeny: what it is, what it is for, how it works and obstacles

Human cryogeny is the freezing of the body after death at a temperature of -196ºC, causing the process of cell deterioration to be interrupted, preserving the body and brain for several years.

Cryogeny has been used especially in terminal patients of serious diseases such as cancer, hoping that they will be revived when healing their disease is discovered, for example. However, this technique can be done on anyone after death.

Human cryogeny, also called crime or cryogenic freezing, cannot yet be done in Brazil, however, there are already companies in the United States that are practicing the process for people from all countries.

So that Serve

Human cryogeny serves to keep the body and especially the brain preserved and in mayors conditions, at low temperatures to avoid its deterioration.

This type of technology aims to relive the body with intact brain function to restore life and health in the future when medicine has developed healing for diseases that caused the person’s death.

When it is indicated

Human cryogeny can be indicated in cases of serious diseases where there is still no medical treatment capable of cure these diseases, such as cancer, for example.

However, it is not indicated in cases of brain death, as the goal is to restore life, with the function of the brain intact.

How it works

Human cryogeny works by reducing body temperature and promoting a vitrification process, in which body fluids are kept in a state, neither solid nor liquid, similar to that of glass.

This vitrification is important as simple freezing could cause ice crystals within cells, preventing their restoration in the future.

Thus, cryopreservation slows metabolism and interrupts chemical changes in the body that occur after death.

Human cryogeny starts from the principle that being legally dead does not mean that it is irreversibly killed.

How cryogeny is done

Although it is popularly referred to as a freezing process, cryogeny is actually a vitrification process.

To get this state, you need to follow a step by step that includes:

1. Cool the bodyafter declared clinical death, with ice and other cold substances. This process should be done by a specialized team and as soon as possible to keep tissues healthy, especially the brain;
2. Inject anticoagulants into the body to prevent blood from coagulating;
3. Transport the body to the Criogenia Laboratory where it will be kept. During transportation the team makes chest compressions or uses a special machine to replace the heartbeat and keep the blood circulating, allowing to bring oxygen to the whole body;
4. Replace all blood with a cryoprotective substanceto prevent the formation of ice crystals in cells and organs, which can damage tissues, as would be blood if it were blood;
5. Place the body upside down in a hermetically metallic tank closedand containing liquid nitrogen, where the temperature will be slowly reduced until it reaches the -196ºC.

In order to obtain the best results, a member of the laboratory team must be present during the final phase of life to start the cryopreservation process soon after death.

People who do not have a serious illness but want to undergo cryogeny should use a bracelet with information to call someone from the lab team as soon as possible, ideally in the first 15 minutes.

Obstacles for human cryogeny

The biggest obstacle of cryogeny is the body’s resuscitation process, as it is not yet possible to revive or resurrect the person, and it has only been possible to revive animal organs.

However, it is expected that with the advancement of science and medicine one can develop technologies to revive the entire body with intact brain function, but it is not yet possible to ensure that this occurs.

In addition, there are still ethical and legal obstacles regarding human cryopreservation, and therefore, this type of procedure is not yet performed in Brazil.

Crying in humans today is only done in the United States and some European countries, such as Germany and Russia, as this is where the only companies in the world are capable of preserving bodies.

There is also a cryogeny process, in which only the head is preserved to keep the brain healthy and ready to be placed in another body, such as a clone in the future, for example.