I'd really like to know what permanent results there is from short term bulemia and how that can be determined 15 years later after so much else has been done to the body. Doesn't make sense. I'm just curious is all.
We could see damage to the brain -- vividly -- 15 years later. Why do you assume an autopsy can't see damage (or lack of it) to the heart or liver?
The explanation can be stated simply. If low potassium causes cardiac arrest, the heart can no longer pump oxygenated blood, so none of the other organs get oxygen and they would all be damaged ["global ischemia"]. The heart itself would be damaged. The fact that Terri's heart and other organs were healthy and did NOT show anoxic damage means that low potassium was not the cause of Terri's cardiac arrest.
The "15 years later" is misleading anyway. An autopsy examines the medical records and testimony as well as the corpse. It's a full investigation. Dr. Thogmartin got a lot of his information from early med records, not from dissecting the body.
Terri's injury -- which was local, not global -- was caused by lack of oxygen to the brain ["cerebral ischemia"]. The most obvious cause of injury to this area is cutting off the bloodflow in the carotid arteries that bring oxygen to the brain. Here are some basic definitions from the first med site I looked at. This is direct quotation:
Choke Holds... obstruction of carotid arteries (which can cause cerebral ischaemia)
These include the so-called 'carotid sleeper' and 'bar arm' choke holds that are sometimes used in law-enforcement situations, although they are increasingly being outlawed in many jurisdictions.
There is often little or no external neck injury visible, whilst haemorrhages in the strap muscles can be more extensive and broader in nature. If the bar arm hold has been of sufficient strength, the airway may have been obstructed, leading to 'air-hunger', and and lead to violent struggling on the part of the restrained person
From another site, this one offering basic information for prosecutors and other law enforcement officials:
Strangulation is defined as a form of asphyxia and is characterized by closure of the blood vessels and/or air passages of the neck as a result of external pressure on the neck. ... Ten percent of violent deaths in the US each year are due to strangulation, with six female victims to every male. ...
Clinically, a victim who is being strangled first experiences severe pain, followed by unconsciousness, and then brain death. The victim will lose consciousness by any one or more of the following: blocking of the carotid arteries (depriving the brain of oxygen), blocking of the jugular veins (preventing deoxygenated blood from exiting the brain), and/or closing off the airway, causing the victim to be unable to breathe. Only eleven pounds of pressure placed upon both carotid arteries for ten seconds is necessary to cause unconsciousness. If pressure is released immediately, consciousness will be regained within ten seconds. After 50 seconds of continuous oxygen deprivation the victim rarely recovers.