# How common are "death throes?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614 "2011-02-16T18:34:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/1 "2011-02-16T18:34:32Z")
One of my pet rats died yesterday, probably of old age (he was 4), and I was present when he shuffled off his little ratty mortal coil. As he passed, his body went through a short series of surprisingly powerful body convulsions, which I presume were the phenomenon known as “death throes.” This depressing incident put me in a morbid frame of mind, and I found myself wondering just how common “death throes” are in humans. The figure of speech is well-known, but it seems to me that the condition itself is rarely if ever described. Is it common for people to convulse violently as they die? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/2 "2011-02-16T23:29:54Z")
I don’t know… but I would like to know as an addendum if it’s true that everyone craps their pants when they die. (I hope it’s related enough not to be seen as a hijack!) ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/3 "2011-02-16T23:57:31Z")
Most of the people I have seen die in the hospital were under all sorts of medications but I recall there was often some slight convulsions. I would say that you usually wouldn’t notice unless you were watching for it. ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/4 "2011-02-17T09:07:28Z")
I know that not everyone craps their pants when they die: my father didn’t. My recollection is that at death increased acidity of the blood can cause muscle spasms. Though depressing, I strongly recommend the book: _How We Die: Reflections of Life’s Final Chapter_ ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/5 "2011-02-17T13:02:00Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I don’t know… but I would like to know as an addendum if it’s true that everyone craps their pants when they die. (I hope it’s related enough not to be seen as a hijack!) So would I! ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/6 "2011-02-17T16:14:24Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I don’t know… but I would like to know as an addendum if it’s true that everyone craps their pants when they die. When someone dies, their muscles relax. Including the anal sphincter muscles. Without these muscles holding the anus shut, fecal matter can leak out. But might not – most bowel movements require active effort by muscles in the colon to expel the fecal matter. It may depend on how full the person’s colon is at the time. So after death, people may leak some fecal matter. Especially as the body is lifted and moved. But not always, and often not in a large amount. P.S. Note that when the anal sphincter relaxes after death, intestinal gas (farts) is nearly always released. And nearly all healthy people have gas in their intestine. So until it dissipates, the vicinity of a dead body smells like some body farted. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/7 "2011-02-17T19:11:01Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > So until it dissipates, the vicinity of a dead body smells like some body farted. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/8 "2011-02-17T20:34:49Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > So until it dissipates, the vicinity of a dead body smells like some body farted. Again from my own experience (statistics = 1 data point) this is not always true. When my dad died at home we kept him on a bed over the weekend until he could be transported to be cremated. No smell. ---
**Author:** ![limegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@limegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/limegreen)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/9 "2011-02-17T20:48:47Z")
It probably depends heavily on the condition of the person when they died. When my aunt passed away, she had basically nothing in her system, as she had stopped eating, and they were just keeping her hydrated with an IV. A lot of people who are severely debilitated when they die wouldn’t have much to leak out. However, a person who had eaten lunch and then a couple hours later was hit by a bus would be a different matter. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/10 "2011-02-17T21:44:39Z")
Back to the OP – I’ve seen one person die, and at the very end she did have one big cramp over her whole body, then she was dead. ---
**Author:** ![Benguilr3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Benguilr3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Benguilr3)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/11 "2018-03-26T15:11:35Z")
Just before she passed away. She started into strange twitches and snorts and jerks, which the assistance around her told me where the onset of what they called active death. This apparently was quite common for them, common enough that they had a name for it and it knew what it was without any kind of pause in their explanation. At that time my mother appeared to be semi-conscious or almost unconscious? The snorts indicated that she was indeed breathing. They told me that these could last sometimes for several hours! I had assumed that they were death throes, without looking into it. What to me was remarkable is that when I watched it I had the feeling that I understood what was going on somehow, intuitively. I would expect that of a natural process. I would imagine that when women go through childbirth, they are not surprised. And if they are mature and watch another woman going through child birth, but have not themselves been through it, they intuitively understand what is going on as well. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/12 "2018-03-26T17:36:34Z")
Eh, it’s not _real_ death throes unless it does 20d6 damage to everything within 100’. ---
**Author:** ![Benguilr3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Benguilr3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Benguilr3)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/13 "2018-04-02T13:02:08Z")
Some kind of humor? I don’t understand the reference. is 2-0 D6? I don’t recall anything about things being destroyed or damaged within 100 feet of a person in death throes. I did research farther, and the literature refers to active death as a more vague bonge’s. Of time sometimes three for five days. However what I saw was my mother when she was pretty much unconscious, and it took about I’m guessing 4 hours total? Or less ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/14 "2018-04-02T13:10:13Z")
It’s a reference to the game Dungeons and Dragons. Some powerful monsters have an ability called “death throes” that causes a big explosion when they die. The explosion does damage equal to the total roll of 20 six-sided dice. So if you’re going to be fighting such a monster, you’re advised to either land the killing blow from a considerable distance away, or to be prepared to take a lot of damage. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/15 "2018-04-02T13:40:57Z")
I would dare postulate that someone that’s mortally wounded (ie, not instant death, but like from a knife or a gunshot) is more likely to have those as they struggle to stay alive rather than people that die in a bed. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/16 "2018-04-02T17:22:53Z")
When **DesertWife** died of ALS and a paralyzed diaphram it was simply her breaths coming farther apart and shallower until the next one never came; no convulsions at all. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/17 "2018-04-02T22:57:47Z")
Yeah, my mom was unconscious and she died with a death rattle but no throes. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/18 "2018-04-02T23:58:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s a reference to the game Dungeons and Dragons. Some powerful monsters have an ability called “death throes” that causes a big explosion when they die. The explosion does damage equal to the total roll of 20 six-sided dice. So if you’re going to be fighting such a monster, you’re advised to either land the killing blow from a considerable distance away, or to be prepared to take a lot of damage. Geek fail. Roll for Sanity, 1/1D10 SAN loss. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/19 "2018-04-03T00:06:39Z")
I watched a good friend die in December. He was heavily sedated at the time because the oxygen mask had been causing him a great deal of distress. I heard no rattle, saw no throes, but did smell fecal matter. Also, his eyes rolled open. It was very quiet, which I put down to the sedation. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614/20 "2018-04-03T00:32:08Z")
If we are going with anecdotes, I’ve seen lots of people die. No death throes. No pooping either. Except for those that died on the can and that was during not after. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-are-death-throes/571614.md?page=2)