Which aspects of medicine are most likely to be affected by burial practices and why?
Very definitely pathology and autopsy practice. Some religions require burial to take place by sundown the day after death which doesn’t leave much time for investigations. Also, I did a PM on a Jewish lady which was required by law (the coroner) and the Rabbi asked me not to open the head and examine the brain as this was important in their faith. Preparing the body for burial is called last offices, and this is usually done by nursing staff on the ward-it involves plugging the orifices with cotton wool to prevent leakage and wrapping in a sheet. Some religions have different procedures to follow for last offices, such as only family members, or only female family members can do it. Embalming bodies-this could be affected by religious burial practices (for example, Muslims prefer to not have non-Muslims dealing with the remains). Cremation-some faiths prefer cremation rather than burial. If some one has a pacemaker implant then this has to be removed prior to cremation in case it expl
