Study Links High CO2 Levels to Incidents of NDEs
Zalika Klemenc-Ketis, MD, of the University of Maribor in Slovenia, and colleagues completed a prospective study of cardiac arrest patients and reported "Our study suggests that some physiological factors or processes might be important in the provoking of near-death experiences," the researchers wrote in the open-access online journal Critical Care.
Fox News picked up the story from Agence France-Presse and published it with the headline “Near-Death Experience Explained by High Levels of CO2”. The Fox News version reads as follows:
A study suggests that people who report having "near-death experiences," such as seeing lights or divine encounters, have increased levels of carbon dioxide in the blood, Agence France-Presse reported.
According to research, between 11 and 23 percent of heart attack survivors report having near-death experiences.
The study, which is reported in the journal "Critical Care," looked at 52 heart attack victims. Eleven had a near-death experience and the common link was a high level of carbon dioxide in the blood. Researchers said more work still needs to be done to confirm the findings, but understanding a near-death experience is important.
A more sophisticated source, MedPageToday (MPT), in its General Psychiatry section reported the story with the somewhat less assertive headline: “Blood Parameters May Explain Near-Death Experience”. The MPT article solicited observations on the study from preeminent NDE researcher, Dr Bruce Greyson.
The MPT webpage featuring the article also carried the sidebar advice to doctors to explain to their patients “that although some studies suggest there may be physical causes for these experiences, they are still largely unexplained by medical science”.
The link to the MedPageToday article is: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/GeneralPsychiatry/19450