After all the drugs and debauchery — all the heroin and crack and coke and pills — Amy Winehouse simply died from an overdose of booze.
According to the autopsy report that was released late yesterday, Winehouse had a blood alcohol level 5x times the legal limit and enough to kill 2 people.
When blood levels of alcohol get that high, the brain’s autonomic system — the plumbing that keeps you breathing even after you’re fallen asleep — simply fail because the primitive brain is overwhelmed with alcohol. Winehouse simply stopped breathing in her sleep and died.
This is not entirely painless because those who have suffered this and survived simply because someone was there to help them, describe a smothering sensation akin to drowning. There is a brief moment when the body pumps out adrenaline to try and wake the non-breathing person and some degree of conciousness is often attained. It’s a terrrible way to die.
