The Advantages of Palliative Care

Live better, longer

While closely related, palliative care differs from hospice care in that, though it also addresses patients facing life-threatening illnesses, the service is available to those who are still actively seeking medical care. Just as with hospice care, palliative care has been shown to extend patient's lives and greatly reduce pain and suffering. Need proof? Just take a look at this quote, from a USA Today article by Liz Szabo:

A study of 151 patients published last summer in The New England Journal of Medicine showed that getting early palliative care — in addition to regular medical treatment — helpedpeople with lung cancer live three months longer, compared with those given standard care.

In comparison, chemo can give newly diagnosed lung cancer patients an extra two to three months of life, says study co-author Thomas Lynch, director of the Yale Cancer Center.

"If this was a drug, this would be on the front page of every paper in the country, talking about 'New advance in lung cancer,' " Lynch says.

But palliative care patients didn't just live longer. They also lived better, with less depression and a higher quality of life, he says.

Studies like this are the reason palliative care is getting some long-deserved attention. Thanks to the winning combination of comfort and treatment, patients and their families are able to enjoy more time together.