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Articles on Palliative care

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Symptoms of an illness usually improve the closer a person gets to dying. Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash

No, most people aren’t in severe pain when they die

Excruciating pain at the end of life is extremely rare. The evidence shows pain and other symptoms, such as fatigue, insomnia and breathing issues, actually improve as people move closer to death.
Victoria’s Parliamentary Secretary for Treasury and Finance Mr Daniel Mulino voted against the state’s assisted dying bill. JOE CASTRO/AAP Imagine

Four reasons Victorian MPs say ‘no’ to assisted dying, and why they’re misleading

The main arguments used by those who voted against assisted dying – including that the bill has insufficient safeguards – in Victoria’s upper house, deserve further scrutiny.
Doctors have to deal with death every day. It’s not easy to come to terms with it. from www.shutterstock.com.au

How doctors are taught to deal with death

Teaching students to care for the dying requires specific skills that the student may not encounter in their ordinary clinical teaching.
Medical assistance in dying has been legal in Canada since July 2016, but there are no ‘specialists’ responsible for doctor-assisted suicide and many doctors are overwhelmed with requests. (Shutterstock)

Who will be the doctors of death in a time of assisted suicide?

More than 2,000 Canadians have chosen medical assistance in dying (MAID) since legalization in 2016. But palliative care doctors aren’t embracing assisted suicide as part of their job.
Assisted dying legislation is likely to be introduced in Victorian Parliament within a month, and be based on a report launched today by Brian Owler and Jill Hennessy. JOE CASTRO/AAP

Victoria may soon have assisted dying laws for terminally ill patients

Public opinion, shifting views in the health profession and international trends allowing assisted dying mean it will be lawful in Australia at some point. But will it be lawful in Victoria soon?
Existential suffering refers to an individual experiencing a lack of meaning or sense of purposelessness in life. Zack Minor/Unsplash

Viewpoints: should euthanasia be available for people with existential suffering?

Imagine this situation: a person has no medical illness but wishes to end his or her life purely because he or she no longer wishes to live. Should they be eligible for euthanasia or assisted suicide?
Knowing how to communicate about death gives us the language to discuss end-of-life topics with our loved ones. from www.shutterstock.com

Passed away, kicked the bucket, pushing up daisies – the many ways we don’t talk about death

We use euphemisms about death and dying to soften the blow of the real words, or because we feel awkward being direct. But this can lead to misunderstanding and confusion.
Better technologies should be adopted in sub-Saharan Africa to deal with childhood cancer. Shutterstock

How Africa can win the fight against childhood cancer

Better technology to diagnose, treat and manage the disease early enough is needed to improve the survival rates of childhood cancer in sub Saharan Africa.

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