Death by natural causes - Wikipedia Death by natural causes `` Natural death '' redirects here. For Horse the Band 's album, see A Natural Death. `` Natural causes '' redirects here. For other uses, see Natural causes ( disambiguation ). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( February 2016 ) A death by natural causes, as recorded by coroners and on death certificates and associated documents, is the end result of an illness or an internal malfunction of the body not directly caused by external forces, typically due to old age. This is especially true when an elderly person has several different conditions or diseases, but where it appears that none of them alone or together may clearly lead to the death, and it is uncertain which condition was the final factor causing death. Contrary to the statement before, everything is natural at some point. For example, a person dying from complications from influenza ( an infection ) or a heart attack ( an internal body malfunction ) or sudden heart failure would be listed as having died from natural causes. Health departments discourage listing old age as the cause of death because doing so does not benefit public health or medical research. Old age is not a scientifically recognized cause of death ; there is always a more direct cause, although it may be unknown in certain cases and could be one of a number of aging - associated diseases. By contrast, death caused by active intervention is called unnatural death. The `` unnatural '' causes are usually given as accident ( implying no unreasonable voluntary risk ), misadventure ( accident following a willful and dangerous risk, which can include drug or alcohol overdose ), suicide, or homicide. In some settings, other categories may be added. For example, a prison may track the deaths of inmates caused by acute intoxication separately. Additionally, a cause of death can be recorded as `` undetermined ''. References Jump up ^ `` Reporting Causes of Death for the Elderly '' ( PDF ). Oregon Health Authority. Retrieved 15 March 2016. Jump up ^ Bryant, Clifton D. ( 2003 ). Handbook of death & dying. Thousand Oaks : Sage Publications. p. 968. ISBN 0 - 7619 - 2514 - 7. Jump up ^ Stark, Martha ( 2000 ). A physician 's guide to clinical forensic medicine. Totowa, NJ : Humana Press. p. 225. ISBN 0 - 89603 - 742 - 8. Jump up ^ Palmer, Brian ( 21 December 2009 ). `` What, Exactly, Are `` Natural Causes '' ? ``. Slate.com. External links Death by Natural Causes Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry, Annex A : ' Unnatural death ' and ' death by natural causes ' Actual Causes of Death in the US, 2000 Death Outline In medicine Cell death Necrosis Avascular necrosis Coagulative necrosis Liquefactive necrosis Gangrenous necrosis Caseous necrosis Fat necrosis Fibrinoid necrosis Temporal lobe necrosis Programmed cell death AICD Anoikis Apoptosis Autophagy Intrinsic apoptosis Necroptosis Paraptosis Parthanatos Phenoptosis Pseudoapoptosis Pyroptosis Autolysis Autoschizis Eschar Immunogenic cell death Ischemic cell death Pyknosis Karyorrhexis Karyolysis Mitotic catastrophe Suicide gene Abortion Accidental death Autopsy Brain death Brainstem death Clinical death DOA Death by natural causes Death rattle Dysthanasia End - of - life care Euthanasia Lazarus sign Lazarus syndrome Medical definition of death Organ donation Terminal illness Unnatural death Lists Causes of death by rate Expressions related to death Natural disasters People by cause of death Premature obituaries Preventable causes of death Notable deaths by year Unusual deaths TV actors who died during production Mortality Birthday effect Child mortality Gompertz -- Makeham law of mortality Holiday effect Immortality Biological Digital Infant mortality Karōshi Maternal death Maternal mortality in fiction Memento mori Micromort Mortality displacement Mortality rate RAMR Mortality salience Perinatal mortality After death Body Stages Pallor mortis Algor mortis Rigor mortis Livor mortis Putrefaction Decomposition Skeletonization Fossilization Preservation Cryopreservation Cryonics Neuropreservation Embalming Maceration Mummification Plastination Prosection Taxidermy Disposal Burial Bed burial Burial at sea Chariot burial Jar burial Natural burial Premature burial Secondary burial Ship burial Sky burial Space burial Cannibalism Cremation Dismemberment Excarnation Promession Resomation Beating heart cadaver Body donation Cadaveric spasm Coffin birth Death erection Dissection Gibbeting Postmortem caloricity Post-mortem interval Other aspects Afterlife Cemetery Consciousness Customs Death mask Eternal oblivion Examination Funeral Grief Intermediate state Internet Mourning Obituary Resurrection Taboo on the dead Vigil Paranormal Ghosts Near - death experience Near - death studies Necromancy Out - of - body experience Reincarnation research Séance Legal Abortion law Administration Capital punishment Cause of death Civil death Coroner Death - qualified jury Death certificate Declared death in absentia Death row Dying declaration Faked death Inquest Legal death Murder Prohibition of death Right to die Suspicious death Trust law Will Fields Forensic pathology Funeral director Mortuary science Necrobiology Post-mortem chemistry Post-mortem photography Taphonomy Biostratinomy Thanatology Other Apparent death Dark tourism Darwin Awards Dead pool Death and culture Death anniversary Death anxiety Death deity Personification of death Dying - and - rising god Psychopomp Death camp Death drive Death education Death from laughter Death hoax Death knell Death march Death messenger Death notification Death panel Death poem Death pose Death - positive movement Death squad Death threat Death trajectory Dignified death Extinction Fan death Festival of the Dead Fascination with death Homicide Information - theoretic death Last rites Martyr Megadeath Museum of Death Necronym Necrophilia Necrophobia The Order of the Good Death Predation Sacrifice human animal Spiritual death Suicide Assisted suicide Thanatosensitivity Undead Voodoo death Portal WikiProject This death - related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Death_by_natural_causes&oldid=843505503 '' Categories : Causes of death Medical terminology Death stubs Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from February 2016 All articles needing additional references All stub articles Talk About Wikipedia Eesti Euskara فارسی Gàidhlig 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Polski Русский Simple English 3 more Edit links This page was last edited on 29 May 2018, at 15 : 52 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: what does it mean if someone dies of natural causes
Answer: the end result of an illness or an internal malfunction of the body not directly caused by external forces, typically due to old age