Word: prolonger
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...expensive advances of medical technology, and the fact that society must attempt to allocate its resources in the most ethical and fair way. He wasn't suggesting that old people exit en masse, but rather that it is time for doctors to reevaluate the circumstances under which they will prolong the dying process for terminal patients. It is time that doctors reconsidered the validity of the wishes of terminal patients who simply do not want to extend their lives artificially. An article published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine by a group of prominent doctors convening...
...issue of the terminal patient's right to dictate his course of treatment, and it comes up with some rather startling recommendations. It is acceptable, the authors state, for a mentally competent patient to refuse treatment, even to refuse food, if he or she does not want to prolong an already difficult process of dying. "We're not advocating breaking the law but since the [legal and medical] context is changing, physicians have to make some judgments where the situation is unclear," said one of the study's authors. "We're saying they should use a measure of compassion...
Many doctors feel uncomfortable with an attitude that is anything less than completely "aggressive" towards treatment, citing the Hippocratic Oath that all physicians take before practicing, which states that they will do all in their power to prolong or sustain life. But it is essential to remember that the oath was written thousands of years ago. The medical capabilities of the physician then were highly limited, so much so that it was safe to make such a promise without fear of the impending ethical questions raised by devices such as respirators or organ transplants. But many aspects of this oath...
...link between lowered cholesterol levels and the decline in the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease suggests that we should be consuming unpalatable foods. Prudent diets, which we recommend, are not punitive diets. People can limit rather than eliminate their intake of high-cholesterol foods like eggs and perhaps prolong their lives...
...issue is complicated by the reluctance of many doctors to do less than everything in their power to prolong or sustain life. Many critics of witholding treatment cite the Hippocratic oath which all doctors take--an oath that requires doctors to do all in their power to preserve life...