Dementia patients' 'right-to-die'

BBC News ^ | 9/19/08 | BBC News

[wagglebee]

People should be able to say if they wish to die, Baroness Warnock says

People with dementia should be able to end their lives if they feel they are a burden to others or to the NHS, according to a respected ethicist.

Baroness Mary Warnock, who has made similar calls in recent years, first made her remarks in a Church of Scotland magazine.

She told the BBC she believed there were many who "sank into dementia when they would very much prefer to die".

But Alzheimer's charities called her remarks "insensitive and ignorant".

Around 700,000 people in the UK have dementia and the number is expected to double within 30 years.

[trisham]

I expect to get flamed for this, but I have no interest in sticking around once I lose my mental capacity.

******************

Bless you, FRiend. I would guess that you have those in your life that would feel differently.

[trisham]

When it is your time. We all have a purpose .Don’t cheat your grandkids out of enjoying your company, taking you for “walks” drawing you happy pics....learning to care for others.

****************

Amen. In the last months of her life my grandmother was not in her right mind. I still treasure our times together. They were the best we ever had.

[CindyDawg]

I’m sorry. I didn’t see your tag or I would not have posted that to you. Without going into details....I understand your pain. You and your wife are in my prayer.

[trisham]

I’m so sorry for your loss.

[justiceseeker93]

If a person suffers from dementia, he has lost his higher cerebral functions, so any statement he makes concerning a preference to die should have no legal validity whatsoever. Any legal process where such a statement from such a person becomes evidence, let alone evidence in support of euthanasia, is “demented” itself in its basic design.

[USMCPOP]

Oh, don’t sweat it. It comes and it goes. One day you want to give up, next day you’re pissed off and ready to go. It is essential to have a damned good sense of humor to get by. That, and a perverse survival instinct. Whatever.

[tiki]

It is easy to say that but it is another thing when the time comes.

I’ve seen people in extreme pain dying of cancer and still they have hope and their family has hope. I’ve known a few people who say what you say and when it came down to it they wanted to live.

The urge to live is a God-given thing and it is hard to overcome.

[CindyDawg]

One of my fondest memories...April 1st , several years ago my 90’s y’o grandmother was in the hospital. Her arms were restrained because she kept pulling her IV out. She was not a happy camper. I sat beside her and untied her. My mom and aunt were fussing about “she's gonna pull it out” and left the room in a huff. My confused grandmother looked around and asked me if she was ok. I assured her she was and whispered something in her ear. When my Aunt and mom came back in I told them they were right and she pulled it out again. They both got close and looked and my mamo got a big grin on her face and held up her arm with the IV intact and yelled “April Fools!”

[trisham]

What a great story. :)

My grandmother was ill for months, and was in the hospital for weeks before she died. I was twenty, and I recall her asking me if I could see the plants and flowers trailing around her hospital room like a crown molding. I told her I could. I remember her grasping my hands, and telling me that she felt the same as she had as a girl, that her body had changed, but she had not. She looked into my eyes and I felt I could see that girl, at once a friend and a grandmother. I wish she could have been with me longer.

[Spok]

Given the recent comments about Gov. Palin’s child with Downs Syndrome, there’s absolutely no doubt that we are rapidly approaching the point where the public debate becomes whether society has an affirmative moral obligation to end the lives of individuals whose quality of life is compromised. And this decision, of course, should properly be made by some over paid bureaucrat who will measure his productivity by the number of souls he has ‘liberated’. The discussion is no longer restricted to sci-fi novels.

[CindyDawg]

That’s a great story too. It’s true though. Our body ages but we are still the same person, that we were when we were younger. Instead of focusing on making people feel guilty about living to be old I would rather see research go towards improving quality and cures.

[TrevorSnowsrap]

“People with dementia should be able to end their lives if they feel they are a burden to others or to the NHS, according to a respected ethicist.”

Even more so then for those who are without dementia unless the agument is strictly utilitarian based.

[E. Cartman]

Precisely. It is disgusting to think that those you love will simply kill you the minute your health declines.

While I would never argue that someone's life should be deliberately terminated, in this day and age it's become necessary to ask how much effort and expense a family must expend to keep around someone with little no hope of recovery.

[Jaidyn]

That’s a great story too. It’s true though. Our body ages but we are still the same person, that we were when we were younger. Instead of focusing on making people feel guilty about living to be old I would rather see research go toward improving quality and cures.

I used to work with dementia patients, and it was heartbreaking every day. I hurt for the families, and for the person who didn't know anyone. I did whatever I could for them, but felt it was never enough.

Now, my husband has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He has had dementia for a few years, but it worsened 1 1/2 years ago after back surgery. It's devastating, especially because I know each stage too well, and what is in store for him and me. It's as though I am watching someone die in slow motion. I do everything I can to keep things as normal as possible, but he makes the abnormal seem normal.

A once vibrant man, who is now my child. There are cures, but they haven't been approved yet. One supposed cure is already used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. I asked his neurologist about it, and he said he's waiting for approval. I told him, "If it doesn't kill an arthritic patient, why would it kill an Alzheimer's patient?" He replied, "It's the law." I then said, "I would rather he live a few good years, with his memory intact, then 20 years as the walking dead."

[dbacks]

[ I hope I can afford to hire a companion to drive them where they want to go and help them do what they want.]

The last 12-15 years of my M-I-L’s life she was curled up in a fetal position, wasting away and totally out of the world. Her death was a blessing for all. JMHO

[GWMcClintock]

My mom passed away in February of this year. She had been under a doctor’s care for dementia/alsheimer’s since 2001. She had to go to the ER for shortness of breath in February, where it was finally determined by ultrasound that at some point in the last SEVEN years, she had had a massive heart attack, and that 3/4 of her heart was already DEAD. It had gone UNDETECTED by three different doctors.

My point is this: when you are only operating on 25% of your heart capacity, it’s a little difficult to get the oxygen necessary to your brain to have any cohesive thought. The diagnosis of “Dementia” is too cavalierly thrown around to cover unusual behavior, and to suggest that euthanasia be a “reasonable” decision is evil and ridiculous.

[CindyDawg]

I’m glad she had yall. Some don’t have any family or have outlived them. I know there are some sad cases. I’m not glossing over that.

[trisham]

It’s true though. Our body ages but we are still the same person, that we were when we were younger. Instead of focusing on making people feel guilty about living to be old I would rather see research go towards improving quality and cures.

*******************

I would as well. Imho, this is all about being pro-life.

[8mmMauser]

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8mm