Copyright 2012 Medical News TodayLatest Health News and Medical News posted throughout the day, every day.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/palliative_care/admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin)editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors)en-us Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241449.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241449.phpThe vast majority of patients with incurable lung or colorectal cancer talk with a physician about their options for care at the end of life, but often not until late in the course of their illness, according to a new study by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators published in the Annals of Internal Medicine...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241432.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241432.phpMany patients with advanced cancer suffer from cachexia, a condition also called body-wasting or wasting syndrome, which causes significant weight loss, extreme fatigue and reduces quality of life...Cancer / Oncology Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240950.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240950.php If you think palliative care and the ICU don't go together, think again...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240511.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240511.phpAlthough around two thirds of us would prefer to die at home, in the developed world the trend in recent years has been for the majority to spend their final days in an institutional setting...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240211.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240211.phpThe conclusion of a report by the Commission on Assisted Dying that there is a strong case for providing the choice of assisted dying for terminally ill people' has been welcomed by Healthcare Professionals for Assisted Dying (HPAD), as well as the way in which the conclusion was reached...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/239924.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/239924.php There is a clear link between several quality indicators developed by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma and clinical outcomes, a new study published in JAMA revealed. In the U.S., traumatic injuries are the fifth most prevalent cause of death, and the leading cause of death in individuals younger than 45 years...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238495.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238495.phpA study led by the University of Kentucky researcher Elaine Wittenberg-Lyles found that hospice family caregivers are "second order patients" themselves and require their own unique care needs. The study, published in a recent issue of Qualitative Health Research, assessed the individual stressors that caregivers experience...Caregivers / Homecare Thu, 17 Nov 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237789.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237789.phpA report commissioned by the Royal Society of Canada, and published in the journal Bioethics, claims that assisted suicide should be legally permitted for competent individuals who make a free and informed decision, while on both a personal and a national level insufficient plans and policies are made for the end of life...Public Health Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/236312.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/236312.phpFinding innovative, minimally invasive ways to treat liver cancer - and being able to tailor that treatment individually to patients - are hallmarks of interventional radiologists. Advances in yttrium-90 (Y-90) radioembolization for liver cancer, a leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, are reported in studies in the October Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/236167.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/236167.php Parents of children in the palliative stage of cancer favour aggressive chemotherapy over supportive care compared with health care professionals, states an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) Cancer is the second most common cause of death for children aged 5 to 14 in North America...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Mon, 17 Oct 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/236058.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/236058.phpWhen children are facing a life-threatening illness, bringing in palliative medicine specialists can help both the child and family improve the child's quality of life, for however long he or she lives...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Wed, 05 Oct 2011 02:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/235496.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/235496.phpAdvance directives do have an impact on health care at the end of life, especially in regions of the country with high spending on end-of-life care, according to a University of Michigan study...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/235198.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/235198.phpA new study in the Sept. 29, 2011, edition of the New England Journal of Medicine reports that nearly one in five nursing home residents with advanced dementia experiences burdensome transitions in the last 90 days of life, such as moving to a different facility in the last three days of life or repeat hospitalizations for expected complications of dementia in the last 90 days of life...Alzheimer's / Dementia Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/235199.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/235199.phpDiscussing and documenting patients' preferences for care at the end of life does not cause them any harm, contrary to recent claims...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Tue, 20 Sep 2011 04:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/234684.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/234684.phpIn advance of a United Nations conference on the global challenges of treating cancer and other diseases, the UBC Graduate School of Journalism launched an ambitious multimedia site, The Pain Project*, which documents one of the greatest challenges to treating chronic illnesses: severely constrained access to morphine...Pain / Anesthetics Fri, 09 Sep 2011 10:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/234186.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/234186.php Research published online in one of BMJ Group's newest additions, BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care showed that parents who suffered the loss of a child during its first 12 months of life have a significantly higher risk of premature death for 25 years after the child's death...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/233338.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/233338.phpA study published on bmj.com today showed that a new scoring system can more accurately predict the remaining life expectancy of patients with advanced cancer in terms of "days", "weeks" or "months"...Cancer / Oncology Mon, 22 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/233128.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/233128.phpPercutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is not a generally accepted option for infants or toddlers with acute coronary syndrome...Cardiovascular / Cardiology Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232013.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232013.phpHospice services substantially improved the provision of care and support for nursing home patients dying of dementia and their families, according to an analysis of survey responses from hundreds of bereaved family members. The research comes as hospice funding has received particular scrutiny in the debate over Medicare spending...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Sat, 30 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232009.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232009.phpPeople mistakenly think hospice care is about dying... you call hospice when nothing more can be done. Nothing could be further from the truth. Hospice of the Western Reserve focuses on life by bringing comfort, dignity and peace to those facing serious illness. Hospice is about living life to its fullest...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/231785.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/231785.phpUniversity at Buffalo School of Social Work Professor Deborah P. Waldrop has seen people die. Too often, their lives have ended in pain and despair, spending their final days in an alienating institutional environment, just another patient in an impersonal progression that leads to what she calls "reciprocal suffering" for families who also watch their loved ones die. There is another way...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Sat, 16 Jul 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/231217.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/231217.phpThe Hospice Foundation of America has developed "Addressing Cultural Diversity in Hospice Care," a free online webinar that looks at how, and why, different cultures may, or may not, utilize hospice. This tutorial aims to prepare and equip hospice organizations, and its providers and volunteers, with strategies and information to meet the needs of culturally diverse patients and loved ones...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Thu, 14 Jul 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/231040.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/231040.phpHospitalized patients who had conversations about religion and spirituality with the healthcare team were the most satisfied with their overall care. However, 20 percent of patients who would have valued these discussions say their desires went unmet, according to a new study¹ by Joshua Williams from the University of Chicago, USA, and his colleagues...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Tue, 12 Jul 2011 06:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/230917.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/230917.phpHospitals across the nation are increasingly implementing palliative care programs to help patients manage the physical and emotional burdens of serious illnesses, but a new University of Georgia study finds that 82 percent of the state's hospitals do not offer palliative care services...Palliative Care / Hospice Care Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/230849.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/230849.phpThe widow of a Lancaster alumnus has funded a PhD in Palliative Care student with a legacy from her late husband Richard Walters. Richard died from cancer in 2010 aged 57, leaving £17,000 to Lancaster University where he was a student of physics from 1971-1974...Palliative Care / Hospice Care