Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Mar 2006
ReviewThe ethics of palliative care and euthanasia: exploring common values.
The ethical underpinnings of palliative care and those of voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide (VE/AS) are often viewed as opposites. In this article, we review the values held in common by the euthanasia legalization movement and palliative care providers. Outlining this common ground serves to define, with greater clarity, the issues on which differences do exist, and ways in which some open questions, which are as yet unresolved, could be approached. Open discussion between VE/AS legalization advocates and palliative care providers is important to address these open questions seriously, and to enrich the care of terminally ill patients by giving members of both groups access to each other's experience.
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Palliative medicine · Mar 2006
ReviewManagement guidelines for motor neurone disease patients on non-invasive ventilation at home.
Most motor neurone disease (MND) patients die of respiratory system complications. When patients have advanced disease with symptoms of respiratory failure, management issues can become complicated by the introduction of assisted ventilatory devices. ⋯ The objective of this article is to review the literature and explore the complex issues surrounding the use of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) in home care MND patients as a justification for the development of a management guideline for medical practitioners. A guideline for multidisciplinary care of home ventilated MND patients will be proposed.