Religious Belief Linked to Desire for Aggressive Treatment in Terminal Patients
By RONI CARYN RABIN
Published: March 17, 2009
Terminally ill cancer patients who drew comfort from religion were far more likely to seek aggressive, life-prolonging care in the week before they died than were less religious patients and far more likely to want doctors to do everything possible to keep them alive, a study has found.
Helen's View: 15 years ago when you found out that the "cancer" is with you, mostly die sooner than later. There is no chance to deal with aggressive way at all. The minute you know, you die in weeks. OK I will say die sooner because Medical Technology was limited and it was not that advance as nowadays. Forget about the religious people seek aggressive and life prolonging than who less religious patients, every one will seek aggressive treatment if there is a chance.
I do not need the research, I am sure most people with terminally ill cancer patients would like to live till they die. Sometime I do not understand such kind of research like this one, I doubt that how accurate is this?
The patients who were devout were three times more likely than less religious ones to be put on a mechanical ventilator to maintain breathing during the last week of life, and they were less likely do any advance care planning, like signing a do-not-resuscitate order, preparing a living will or appointing a health care proxy, the analysis found.
Helen's View: My mother in law is as Christian as I am. She is now 80+ and this is what she keeps saying.."If I have a bad terminal cancer, I do not want you all prolonging my life. Just take the tube off."....
This is me.."I will seek the medical help till I die". I do believe in "Not my will, They will be done" . On my last day on earth if I need it, I will ask so much morphine too. You know we have so many ways to go comfortably!!! Seeing when my sister was very sick with terminal ill cancer, Seeing her with my own two eye balls , she never wanted to die. I do have a question......
"Believers or non believers who wanted to die or not wanted to die and who want to get a aggressive care or not, are they all really link???" For 40+ years of my life, I never think about that "As I am a believer, so I must or need aggressive care of my last days or weeks on earth." Oh by the way...I have seen or heard that the doctor give patients 3 weeks, or 4 days to live but they are living now more than 2 years. The patients who got told 4 days to live, now living more than 2 years is the same time of when I got my treatment. I saw them, I talked to them, I was meeting with them in the same room. The result of aggressive care pay off??? What do you think??
I remembered once in new , there is a lady who can't speak, who can't function anymore...I forgot her name. Honestly the one who pulled the tube was her husband not the girl's parent. Herself can't express what she really wanted but the husband claimed that she is agree. He lets to pull the tube and she die. It's call mercy killing?? I am not the one to judge but I leave that in God's hands too.
As are in God’s hands — ’Let what happens happen’ — but in fact we know they want more aggressive care,” said Holly G. Prigerson, the study’s senior author and director of the Center for Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care Research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
Helen's View: Here I have to say something, I am a Christian and yes I do believe in God's hands. Of course I want more aggressive care for to live longer and to die happy way!! I am so surprise that why most people want to put the Medicine and the Faith, a part?
When human are in racing (here I will put both in sport or in life), we all wanted to win. Forget about the result but we have to paddle hard to win the race. For me I believe my faith in God and also in seeking for the aggressive care too. Do I need more research on that ?
“To religious people, life is sacred and sanctified,” Dr. Prigerson said, “and there’s a sense they feel it’s their duty and obligation to stay alive as long as possible.”
Helen's View: I do not know other religious people but as a Christian for me life is value and good that's why God give to me this life. For me there is no choice that I am the daughter of U Lay Shan and Daw Nang Mie no matter how I wish to be the daughter of Queen Elizabeth and her husband Phillipe! NO CHOICE FOLK. See it ???No Choice!! I live on earth as Helen Layshan by birth with no choice Now I live as Helen Layshan McIntosh by married with
choice.
There is yes or no in married but there is no yes or no to become as you want to come out! Picking who I want to be my parent is impossible.
By the way I am very happy as who I am. Unkindly say..glad that not the wife of Charles. I might have money but happy or not is the question.
Aggressive life-prolonging care comes at a cost, however, both in terms of dollars and human suffering. Medicare, the government’s health plan for the elderly, spends about one-third of its budget on people who are in the last year of life, and much of that on patients at the very end of life.
Helen's View: Good point, of course as research said aggressive life prolonging care comes at a cost. Actually we all want care but can't do it because no money!! Seen to me not the religious is the points, the cost is more talking here for a patients to get more care or not.
Have you ever seen that a family member said...."Well..we are not believer so lets pull the tube or stop aggressive care!" Again here I do not understand well about care and aggressive care. we human body has limited tolerance of medicine. No matter how much you want the aggressive care if your body can't take it, you die. You can't do nothing. There is a limit!
Aggressive end-of-life care can lead to a more painful process of dying, researchers have found, and greater shock and grief for the family members left behind.
Helen's View: Here I would understand like this. If I am a patient's shoes, I want more care till I die. If I am a family's shoes I want my family patient die quicker because he or she is sufferring.
Greater shock and grief is depend on the patient's age. I was so grief when my sister die because she is only 31 but if now God calls my grand mother, I will say I am very happy because she is 91 years old. She has the very blessing life!
The new study used both a questionnaire and interviews to assess the level of reliance on religious faith for comfort among 345 patients with advanced cancer. The patients, most of them belonging to Christian denominations, were followed until they died, about four months on average.Helen's View: How could these 345 Christian patients represent the whole Christian in the world? I am lost in here. Why only on Christian and why not research on others religion too? Then I must say the conclusion is right!! May be Jewish or Muslim or Buddish might wants more aggressive care than Christian denominations. How about that?? I would say this research need more works!
The vast majority of patients, religious or not, did not want heroic measures taken. Still, 11.3 percent of the most religious patients received mechanical ventilation during the last week of life, compared with only 3.6 percent of the least religious.
The most religious patients were also more likely than less religious ones to be resuscitated in the last week of life and to be treated in an intensive-care unit as they died, although those differences may have been due to chance.
“Doctors don’t always acknowledge, and I’m pretty sure patients are telling us, that God is really important in their lives,” said Dr. Gerard Silvestri, a cancer specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C., who has studied end-of-life decision making.
God uses doctors and medicine to heal you!
A study by Dr. Silvestri in 2003 found that while cancer patients listed their oncologist’s recommendation as the most influential factor affecting their decisions about medical care, their faith in God was the second-most-influential factor, ranking higher than the recommendations of their family doctors, their spouses and children, and even information about whether treatment would cure the disease.
Helen's View: Oncologist's recommendation most influential and faith in God was the second most influential factor?? I can't speak for other but as a believer I can speak for me. To my remember, I do not put God in Second place.
My own experience of fighting with liver cancer, I listen what the doctor told me and I put God's will first. I always pray first before I go to see the doctor. Way Way before I got a good doctor, I pray to God to get me a good doctor. I put God first as I believe in that God guide my doctors and nurses.OK the other way, or put it this way ...How about if my doctors is a far more believer than me? May be my doctors might pray for him before he/she guide me or all the patients? I am sure there are many Christian Doctors who seek God's guiding their hands and brain to help the patients! How could you be sure that Doctors never pray but only believe in his own brain??
There is a line that no human can't cross. Thai people said.."We know the day that we born but we do not know the day of our dead."
I am not talking about "OK today is the day, lets pull the tube!!"
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