Posts Tagged ‘End of Life Care’
Common Sense Caregiving by Gary Joseph LeBlanc: A must read for anyone caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s
A columnist and book dealer from Spring Hill Florida Gary Joseph LeBlanc offers a personal and down to earth account of his experience caring for his father who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. This common sense account of is a must read for anyone caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease. Written as a completion of sixty-five articles from his column, LeBlanc gives an encouraging and enlightening guide for anyone navigating the turbulent waters of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease.
Study: Palliative Care Extends Life Expectancy
It is well known that palliative care aims to reduce the severity of suffering in terminally ill patients, but a recent study conducted at Mass. General Hospital finds that palliative care can also extend life expectancy as well, reports The Boston Globe.
The research team at MGH found that patients with advanced lung cancer who began receiving palliative care soon after they were diagnosed lived almost three months longer than patients who did not receive palliative care. Patients who did receive the additional care lived longer despite being less inclined to opt for aggressive techniques to extend their lives in the final stages of their illness.
Palliative care, which aims to comfort ill individuals both physically, emotionally, and spiritually, also resulted in patients being half as likely to report being depressed than those who only received the standard level of care.
Discussing End of Life Care (Part 1)
Erin had been caring for her aging mother for the past four years as her body slowly succumbed to cancer. She had read every book and article she could find to teach her what to do throughout the various stages of care. As she stood face to face with an intensive care unit doctor, who wanted to know at what point they switch from attempts to prolong her mother’s life to giving her only palliative care to make her comfortable as she neared her final days, she became unsure of what to do. Over the past months, the exhaustion from battling the illness had gotten extreme; her mother was only awake for about an hour a day – and barely cognizant of her surroundings for that hour. Erin could not remember the last time she had gotten out of bed. Erin was faced with a tough decision… “If only I had talked to my mother about what she would have wanted,” Erin thought, recalling so many times over the past years where they had pretended that an end would never come. Instead of trying to enjoy every moment left in her mother’s life, she is spending it instead worrying whether her decision is really the one that her mother would be comfortable with.
Although Erin’s story is fictional, it is a reality for many caregivers – a situation that could be avoided with one conversation. While discussing end of life care may sound like a daunting encounter, it does not always need to be.
Before having the conversation, it helps to become familiar with what the different options are, and what is legally recognized in each state. This way, the adult child can be more confident in the information they are bringing to their parents, which will help comfort them and allow there to be fewer “what if’s” that may prevent the parents from opting to make a decision.
Study: Less Competition for Dates Means Longer Life
Males who grew up in areas with a higher male-to-female ratio live longer, a new Harvard Medical School study reported on by The Boston Globe explains. Men who were faced with less competition for dates in their late teens and early 20s lived an average of about three months longer than those who were young adults in areas with a higher proportion of females.
One of the authors of the study, Dr. Nicholas Christakis, professor of medicine and medical sociology at Harvard Medical, speculates that the stress of competing for a date, as well as the potential delay in getting married, may be the biggest factors in longevity.
“Wives are traditionally charged with taking care of the health needs of household members. Consequently, delays in marriage, absence of marriage, and limited partner choice might be more relevant to men’s health than to women’s,” the study says.