Palliative Care Center

News and Features Related to Palliative Care

11. DNR Orders May Affect Surgical Outcomes
    

    April 18, 2011 -- People with do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders may be more than twice as likely to die soon after surgery, regardless of the urgency of the procedure or health status before surgery. A new study shows 23% of people with DNR orders died within 30 days after surgery compared with 8% of

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12. Number of Alzheimer’s Caregivers Is Increasing
    

    March 15, 2011 -- The number of Alzheimer's disease caregivers in the U.S. is far larger than previously believed, according to a new report issued by the Alzheimer's Association. "The number of Americans living in the U.S. as caregivers to someone with Alzheimer's or a different type of dementia is

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13. The Palliative Caregiver
    

    No matter when you get the news that a loved one has a painful or terminal condition, it's a shock. Deciding to become their caregiver, to help them manage their pain and suffering -- or manage it for them -- is a difficult choice. That choice may be made in the blink of an eye, particularly when a

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14. Pediatric Palliative Care: Easing Your Child's Suffering
    

    Karen Zrenda remembers the first time she took her newborn son Tommy outside. Tommy's respiratory defect had kept him at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital for nearly the first year of his life. The sun shined on him for the first time. "It seemed like such a normal thing, but it was so exciting. It

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15. Coping With a Life-Threatening Illness
    

    "I'm sorry, but there's nothing more we can do." No patient wants to hear that. No doctor wants to say it. And with good reason: It isn't true. It is true that in the course of many illnesses, cure ceases to be an option. But no hope of a sure cure does not mean no hope at all. It certainly does not

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16. Cancer: Palliative Care and Quality of Life
    

    A significant improvement in cancer care is a new medical specialty called palliative medicine -- care that alleviates the side effects of cancer treatment and eases pain and discomfort. Palliative care has already transformed the quality of life for many cancer patients. A 2010 survey by researcher

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17. What It's Like to Have Dementia
    

    You know how frustrating and heartbreaking dementia symptoms are from the point of view of a caregiver. You know the pain of slowly seeing a loved one slip away. But what is it like for her? What is it like for a person to slowly -- or sometimes quickly -- forget almost everything she ever knew? Dem

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