American College of Physicians releases guidelines for end-of-life care

The American College of Physicians announced a set of new guidelines for improving palliative care. The guidelines stress the importance of regular assessments for people dealing with serious illnesses that are in the late stages of life. These people should be assessed for symptoms of pain, dyspnea, and depression and proven methods of treatment should be completed for them. These three symptoms are the most common in people at the end of life according to evidence.

For cancer patients, proven effective treatments for pain include anti-inflammatory drugs, narcotic drugs and bisphosphonates. Dysnea and general difficulty of breathing can be soothed using narcotic drugs also. Antidepressants and psychosocial intervention are effective in helping patients with depression.

The guidelines state that advance care planning should be in place for all patients suffering from a serious illness. Also, due to significant clinical changes to patients at end-of-life, a reevaluation of patients’ current care plan is necessary.

ACP guidelines, which have been released since 1981, are based on scientific evidence or clinical document, not industry consensus or expert opinion. Since there a few high-quality sources for end-of-life care, most of the evidence that were used to create these guidelines was from literature that dealt with cancer patients. As a result, many important aspects of EOL care that addressed other conditions like heart and lung disease and dementia were not taken into account. These treatments include spiritual care, complementary and alternative therapies, and nutritional support.

To receive a FREE Mesothelioma Web information packet** or to make a request, please fill out the following form :

**For a FREE information packet including treatments, clinical trials, and specialists, please complete the form above or call a Mesothelioma Web coordinator at 1-877-367-6376.

News

Resources

If you would like to receive a FREE information packet or have questions about mesothelioma, call us at:

Toll-Free 1-877-367-6376