Talk:Death by natural causes

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Merge

This article and unnatural death should really be merged into one, neither is particularly strong on its own. Richard001 23:57, 18 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think that because neither are really too strong they deserve more information or a rewrite. Natural causes and unnatural death seem significantly different from each other enough to warrent each having their own seperate article. If you want, but both in the death article.

Perhaps if we had a separate article Causes of death (not just a redirect) they could be described there. Richard001 21:45, 8 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Types of natural cause

Can someone please help me understand this. Why is it that some people are recorded to have died of natural causes, whereas others may be noted down as dying of heart disease? I never understood this distinction, they are the same in theory. 77.96.240.178 (talk) 13:57, 15 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Heart disease is one of the most common types of natural cause death. Death certificates always state the specific cause, such as lung cancer, atherosclerosis, pneumonia etc. Only a tiny proportion of people who died naturally have an inquest, but in those cases, the coroner determines that the deceased died of natural causes. Natural causes means not unnatural (ie not injury or poisoning). When it is stated that a particular person died of natural causes, such as if a media article states that a famous actor died of natural causes, it means that they, or the person who told them the information they are reporting, did not (for whatever reason), want to specify ischemic heart disease, colon cancer, emphysema etc. Nietzsche 2 (talk) 20:42, 26 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Contrast

It might be helpful if this article provided some "unnatural" causes of death for comparison. For example, is an infectious disease a "natural cause" of death? What about an accident, like falling down the stairs? WhatamIdoing (talk) 21:49, 28 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

What about something that might be termed an "act of God", such as a lightning strike? Would that be considered death by natural causes? -GTBacchus^(talk) 00:09, 3 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Natural Causes and Age

Is the term "death by natural causes" associated with "dying at an old age"? Or can a younger person die by natural causes, too? I ask this, because as I am writing this, in the article Deaths in 2009, someone is stated to have died "of natural causes" at the age of 58. Eduarodi (talk) 08:34, 16 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect that age is irrelevant. The term is probably used differently in different places/times, but the death of a child from a severe genetic condition is probably by "natural causes". The opposite, "unnatural causes", suggests homicide (and perhaps suicide or death by misadventure/accident).

It would be nice to have some good sources on this page. WhatamIdoing (talk) 19:18, 19 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I would have said that the death of a child for any reason doesn't qualify as "natural causes". As you say, we need good sources to narrow down the definition. --Eduarodi (talk) 02:59, 22 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"Natural" does not mean "good". In the absence of modern sanitation and medicine, it is perfectly "natural" for a large proportion of children to die from infectious disease.

I've found a source that confirms that my guess is basically correct. WhatamIdoing (talk) 03:38, 22 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I don't think any death is a good death. Anyway, death is always the consequence of something, whether it be a bullet to your heart, a tumour, or a tired heart after 90 years of work. I've always taken "natural causes" to be a general term to mean "for no particular or specific reason". It's like saying your organism has worn off. Please, share that source you've found. It might help us out here. --Eduarodi (talk) 20:16, 22 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The sources are listed in the article now. They're both available through books.google.com (and probably many other sources). You might also like to read death by unnatural causes.

Natural causes is a large category of deaths, not a specific cause. It's like the difference between "vehicle" and "a 2010 Ford Mustang V6 Coupe". "Natural causes" is frequently reported in an obituary when the family doesn't choose to release medical records immediately. The actual death certificates should report the equivalent of "Ford Mustang V6 Coupe", not just "natural causes". WhatamIdoing (talk) 21:51, 22 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I liked that comparison. And sorry, I hadn't seen the links or thought a specific page existed on Wikipedia. Thanks. --Eduarodi (talk) 03:43, 23 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Phrase 'used by coroners'?

I'm not sure these professionals use the phrase much, if at all, on death certificates. The phrase is relatively meaningless.Ykral (talk) 09:41, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]