Palliative care (from Latin palliare, to cloak) is any form of medical care or treatment that concentrates on reducing the severity of the symptoms of a disease or slows its progress rather than providing a cure. It aims at improving quality of life, by reducing or eliminating pain and other physical symptoms, enabling the patient to ease or resolve psychological and spiritual problems, and supporting the partner and family.

The concept of palliative care

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The World Health Organisation (WHO), in a 1990 report on the topic, defined palliative care as "the active total care of patients whose disease is not responsive to curative treatment". This definition stresses the terminal nature of the disease. However, the term can also be used more generally to refer to anything that alleviates symptoms, even if there is also hope of a cure by other means; thus, a more recent WHO statement calls palliative care "an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness." In some cases, palliative treatments may be used to alleviate the side effects of curative treatments, such as relieving the nausea associated with chemotherapy.

The term is not generally used with regard to a chronic disease such as diabetes which, although currently incurable, has treatments that are (ideally) effective enough that it is not considered a progressive or life-threatening disease in the same sense as cancer or progressive neurological conditions. It is, however, occasionally used with regard to some diseases, such as chronic, progressive pulmonary disorders and end stage renal disease or chronic heart failure.

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Please check out our November newsletter. Articles on palliative care and living with MS http://www.mstrust.org.uk/information/opendoor/
MSTrust (MSTrust) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:00:32 -0000
Please check out our November newsletter. Articles on palliative care and living with MS http://www.mstrust.org.uk/information/opendoor/
Palliative Care: Finance http://bit.ly/1MX5LM - #palliative
hospice_news (Hospice News Tweets) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:52:43 -0000
Palliative Care: Finance http://bit.ly/1MX5LM - #palliative
New Post: Palliative Care Concepts In Medical Treatment (http://bit.ly/w9eEP) http://bit.ly/w9eEP
suka2kamu (Suka2Kamu) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:43:47 -0000
New Post: Palliative Care Concepts In Medical Treatment (http://bit.ly/w9eEP) http://bit.ly/w9eEP
Palliative Care As A Laudable Medical Goal: Palliative care as a laudable medical goal has grown over the decad.. http://bit.ly/A3043
AcuteArticles (Acute Articles) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:24:04 -0000
Palliative Care As A Laudable Medical Goal: Palliative care as a laudable medical goal has grown over the decad.. http://bit.ly/A3043
http://tinyurl.com/yl5pj2b Palliative Care Concepts In Medical Treatment Pall
howtostipsways (Howto Man) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:20:43 -0000
http://tinyurl.com/yl5pj2b Palliative Care Concepts In Medical Treatment Pall
New post: The Growth Of Palliative Care In Medicine (http://cli.gs/Q14Hs)
larrydkeen (larrydkeen.com) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:20:43 -0000
New post: The Growth Of Palliative Care In Medicine (http://cli.gs/Q14Hs)

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