Death rattle: Hearing this means you have just 23 hours left to live, says doctor

In a bizarre revelation, a doctor now reveals that people approaching death produce a crackling noise that signals that they have around 23 hours to live.

As part of the dying process, people lose their ability to swallow or cough, which stops them from clearing secretions in their respiratory tracts.

The revelation comes from infectious disease specialist Dr Daniel Murrell from the University of Alabama, Birmingham.

This causes them to emit a gurgling noise with every breath, which may make them sound as though they are choking.

While the noise may seem distressing for loved once, Dr Murrell stresses that the death rattle is not painful but is simply a part of dying.

Death rattles occur when people nearing the end of their lives no longer have the strength to clear secretions, such as phlegm, from the back of their throats. This is often accompanied by changes to their breathing patterns, which may vary from very quiet to loud, Medical News Today reported.

Other signs a person has just hours left include them experiencing:

• Confusion
• Frequent yawning (to draw in more oxygen)
• Incontinence
• A change in odour
• Bruising
• Agitation
• Lost consciousness
• Mottled skin
• Choking noise