8 Common Myths About Death

If you've spent any time browsing the web, you may have come across the claim that dead bodies can release gas. While it may sound like something your teenage cousin would say for shock value, it's actually true. The bacteria in the intestines responsible for gas production don’t simply vanish when the body stops functioning. And since our sphincters relax after death, even slight movement of the body can release the trapped gas.

However, many misconceptions about death still persist. Let's debunk a few of them, drawn from an episode of Misconceptions on YouTube.

1. Myth: Your fingernails continue growing after death.

It’s one of those facts that gets passed around: From time to time, people claim that your fingernails and even your hair keep growing after death.

Sorry to burst the bubble, but you won’t be needing a manicure anytime soon. While some suggest that it might be possible for hair and nails to grow a little after death because skin cells require less oxygen than other parts of the body, don’t expect to grow claws or a luscious mane. Nails require glucose to grow, and without it, there’s no need for nail clippers.

This myth is probably based on the fact that after death, the skin starts to tighten and shrink as it dehydrates. This shrinkage can make nails appear to grow. Similarly, facial hair may seem to stand out more, but it’s due to the skin drying out, not because new hair follicles are sprouting.

2. Myth: Dying peacefully in your sleep is the norm.

When it’s your time to go, let’s hope it’s not from a bear attack or a murder hornet sting. Many people think the most peaceful way to pass away is while sleeping. But this may actually be a euphemism for less serene circumstances, especially when the cause of death is something the family prefers to keep private.

A heart arrhythmia or brain aneurysm could lead to a relatively painless death during sleep, but there are also more gruesome possibilities.

It’s possible that someone experiencing a heart attack or other severe bodily failure might regain consciousness briefly before dying, enduring a few terrifying moments of clarity and physical pain before passing on. Evidence of these unsettling moments could be seen in sheets that are twisted or disturbed, signaling distress.

This doesn’t mean that a peaceful passing is always just a myth, but it’s certainly not something you can count on.

3. Myth: Dead bodies are a serious health risk.

If you ever find yourself near an unidentified corpse, you might wonder whether proximity to a dead body could pose a danger. Could it carry diseases? Fleas? Fungi?

No need to worry. The International Committee of the Red Cross states that dead bodies pose a “negligible health risk.” This doesn’t mean zero—it’s theoretically possible for someone like an aid worker directly handling the body to contract hepatitis or tuberculosis, but only for a few days after death at most. Any longer and the risk is minimal.

The World Health Organization agrees, stating that bodies “only pose a substantial health risk in a few special cases, such as deaths caused by cholera or hemorrhagic fevers.”

The safety experts at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) also weigh in [PDF]: “There is no direct risk of contagion or infectious disease from being near human remains for those who aren’t directly involved in recovery or other tasks that require handling the remains … Viruses associated with human remains (such as hepatitis B and C, HIV, various bacteria, etc.) don’t pose a risk to someone walking nearby, nor do they cause significant environmental contamination.”

So, walking past a dead body—no problem. Handling a dead body? No issue, as long as you do it carefully. According to OSHA, the biggest concern when handling a body may actually be hurting your back: “Having more than one person help with lifting the remains can reduce the risk of injury. Using proper lifting techniques will also protect people, as will mechanical lifts or other devices when available.”

4. Myth: Cremation turns you into ash.

Cremation is a popular choice for those who fear the idea of being trapped in a coffin for eternity. You probably think it involves simply putting the body into a furnace and turning it into a pile of ash. But there’s more to it than that.

When your body arrives at a crematory, it’s placed into an oven and heated to about 1100°F. The result isn’t a fine powder ready to be scattered in the ocean. Instead, cremation leaves behind bone fragments that need to be ground down. Before this step, the remains resemble gravel more than fine ash.

And just to answer your question—no, it’s not advisable to cremate anyone with medical devices or implants unless the foreign objects are removed first. Items like breast implants could even cause environmental damage when burned.

5. Myth: All funerals are expensive.

Saying goodbye to a loved one can sometimes feel like saying goodbye to your vacation fund. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the average cost of a funeral exceeds $7000. But bidding farewell doesn’t have to break the bank.

Cremation is far more affordable than embalming and burial, and it saves you a significant amount on caskets, which typically cost around $2400 but can soar up to $10,000.

While you could opt for an elaborate (and expensive) service at a funeral home, some states let you transport the body and obtain a death certificate on your own. You can hold a viewing or visitation at a private residence or even a place of worship instead of using the funeral home’s facilities. Some even choose to make a loved one’s farewell a festive occasion, like a barbecue. The key takeaway? You can honor the departed without falling into financial ruin. It just takes a bit of creativity—and perhaps a midsized sedan.

6. Myth: Hospice care is only for the dying.

When we hear the term hospice care, we often associate it with the final stages of life, focusing on comfort and care as someone nears the end. Some prefer to use the term palliative care to ease the discomfort that the term 'hospice' might bring.

However, hospice care isn’t always linked to immediate death. Patients qualify for hospice when their illness is incurable, though not necessarily life-threatening at that moment. Some hospice programs might require a prognosis that expects death within six months, but that’s not always accurate. In fact, due to the specialized care they receive, hospice patients may end up living longer than they would under other forms of treatment. It’s even possible to 'graduate' from hospice if a doctor no longer believes the patient’s prognosis is dire enough to justify continued care.

Even if you have a pessimistic view of hospice care, consider this: this kind of care—often provided at home rather than in treatment centers—not only focuses on easing the patient’s suffering but also offers crucial support to family members, helping them manage the emotional weight of impending loss. Hospice is as much about caring for the living as it is about the person who might be nearing the end. Of course, decisions regarding hospice or any medical care should be made in consultation with healthcare professionals, not based on advice found online.

7. Myth: People in their 30s were considered senior citizens in the past.

Advances in medicine have undeniably saved many lives from diseases and conditions that would have claimed lives centuries ago. But sometimes, we get a bit overconfident in our modern knowledge. We often laugh about how people in the Middle Ages had an 'average lifespan' that barely made it to their thirties, forgetting the challenges of their time.

The secret behind the surprisingly short life expectancies of the past lies in averages, often distorted by high rates of childhood death. According to the BBC, the concept of 'average life expectancy' from earlier eras is significantly influenced by these early fatalities. For example, if one sibling died at 1 year old and another at 70, the average life expectancy would be 35. Yet, by the time you reach your 34th birthday, you wouldn't feel like your life was nearing its end.

When applying this method of averaging to a larger population, it doesn’t necessarily imply that everyone in that group was dying at 35. A 1994 study of ancient Greek and Roman men revealed that individuals mentioned in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, born before 100 BCE, had a median lifespan of 72 years, which is fairly close to the 75 years of modern American men. [PDF].

Another study, this time focusing on teeth from individuals born between 475 and 625 CE, found that living into one’s seventies wasn’t unusual. The human body has always been capable of aging in a typical manner; the real problem was the frequent wars and subpar healthcare, not premature aging.

There are exceptions, though. Historically, the poorer populations often had shorter life expectancies due to the physically demanding work they performed. Women, too, often faced shorter lifespans because of complications during pregnancy, which men didn’t have to endure. However, when it comes to the aging process itself, people from earlier times generally aged just as well as we do today.

8. Myth: You lose exactly 21 grams of weight when you die.

Among the many misconceptions about death, one stands out as particularly enigmatic: the belief that a human body loses a specific amount of weight at the exact moment of death—21 grams. Some believe this is the weight of the soul departing from its physical vessel to continue its existence in another realm.

This idea originated with a doctor named Duncan MacDougall, who, in the early 20th century, convinced six terminally ill patients—four of whom had tuberculosis—to lie on beds placed on scales. He monitored their weight loss as they neared death, hoping to detect a significant drop in weight at the moment of passing.

However, of the six patients, only the first one experienced a weight loss of exactly 21 grams (though in reality, it was three-fourths of an ounce since MacDougall used the imperial system). To be more precise, it seemed closer to 24 grams.

What about the other five? According to MacDougall's report, one of the subjects couldn't provide useful data because 'the scales were not finely adjusted, and there was a great deal of interference from people opposed to our work.' Another patient passed before the scale could be properly calibrated, so their data was discarded as well. The others lost varying amounts of weight.

The results sparked considerable debate, with scientists arguing that factors like sweat, bodily fluids, and other excretions made it nearly impossible to obtain accurate measurements of the body after death. Despite this, MacDougall insisted that he had accounted for all possible variables.

Today, it is widely accepted that the sample size was too small and the results too inconsistent to draw any definitive conclusions. Critics have put forward a range of possible explanations for MacDougall's findings, from inaccurate measurements to outright deception.

MacDougall himself cautioned against overinterpreting his results, stating, 'I am aware that a large number of experiments would require to be made before the matter can be proven beyond any possibility of error, but if further and sufficient experimentation proves that there is a loss of substance occurring at death and not accounted for by known channels of loss, the establishment of such a truth can not fail to be of the utmost importance.'

To this day, no conclusive evidence has been found. It seems the question of whether the soul's departure from the body is measurable remains unanswered.