: how is cryopreservation able to somewhat preserve and sustain a person without them slowly dying due to a lack of basic necessities like oxygen and water?
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Basically, it doesnt. As of 2021, the humanity does not have the knowledge to bring back a whole body to life after it is completely frozen. That is, the current cryopreservation methods are not applicable to a human body.
However, individual cells, and sometimes tissues can be preserved that way. It is quite common to freeze and thaw cell lines while keeping them alive in the process. Lately, I thawed a vial of cells frozen in 2012, and a small percentage of them managed to recover from the process and live normally. But, they are just individual cells, not a whole body.
As the cells freeze, the water in them crystallizes. And that can be a problem, as it shreds the cells and compromise their integrity. Therefore, the water in the cells should be replaced with something else that does not form such disruptive crystals while freezing. A chemical called DMSO is used for such purpose. Also, the temperature should be gradually decreased to prevent the shredding. So when we freeze the cells, they go into a freezer at 4 degree Celcius first. Then -20, -80, and finally into liquid nitrogen vapor, that is around -190 degree Celcius. This is where they are kept for long term.
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