It is likely more distressing to the family and loved ones to hear the death rattle than it is to the patient experiencing it. If your loved one experiences end-stage wet respirations, here are some practical things you can do to minimize or eliminate it: Try changing the patient's position.
carbon dioxide - a heavy odorless colorless gas formed during respiration and by the decomposition of organic substances; absorbed from the air by plants in photosynthesis.
Carbon dioxide is a simple covalent molecule that most people have heard about, as it is often in the news linked to global warming. Carbon dioxide has the formula CO 2 and at the centre of this linear molecule is a carbon atom joined by two pairs of double-bonds to the oxygen atoms, i.e O=C=O.