Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2015
Preoperative Breast Pain Predicts Persistent Breast Pain and Disability After Breast Cancer Surgery.
Approximately 30% of the women report pain in the affected breast before breast cancer surgery. ⋯ Investigations of the etiology and molecular mechanisms of preoperative breast pain, as well as interventions for this high-risk group, are needed.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2015
Massage, Music, and Art Therapy in Hospice: Results of a National Survey.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) provides clinical benefits to hospice patients, including decreased pain and improved quality of life. Yet little is known about the extent to which U.S. hospices employ CAM therapists. ⋯ Less than one-third of U.S. hospices employ art, massage, or music therapists despite the benefits these services may provide to patients and families. A higher proportion of large hospices, nonprofit hospices, and hospices in the Mountain/Pacific region employ CAM therapists, indicating differential access to these important services.
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A major step in end-of-life care was achieved in December 2005 when the Israeli parliament passed the "Dying Patient Law." The law (§31-§36) allows a competent person, even if he/she is healthy, to leave written instructions known as advance medical directives (AD), in which they explain their wishes in detail with respect to future medical treatment should it be determined that they are an incompetent terminally ill patient, as defined by the provisions of that law. ⋯ There is a need to increase awareness in the general population of the option to prepare ADs. Family physicians, oncologists, and geriatricians should be more involved in this process.