SLOW MEDICINE supports unrushed medical decisions in the years of aging and dying and is cautious about high-tech treatments that may prolong suffering.
RECENT INTERVIEW:
When 'overmedicalization' goes too far Broadcast: Midmorning, 08/09/2010, 9:06 a.m.
In supporting my parents through the experiences I described in the New York Times magazine, I found the following resources helpful:
BOOKS:
My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing "Slow Medicine," the Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones, by Dennis Mccullough, MD.
Learning to Speak Alzheimer's, by Joanne Koenig Coste and Robert Butler
Loving Your Parents When They Can No Longer Love You, by Terry Hargrave.
Tips and Resources for Patient-Centered Decision-Making:
These sources will help you become informed of the pros, cons, and alternatives to any treatment.
Preference-sensitive care (PDF)
The Foundation for Informed Medical Decision-Making
Compassion and Choices
"My Father's Broken Heart," New York Times Magazine, June 20, 2010. Citations.
"My father's conservativism was not unusual:"
Changing Preferences for Survival After Hospitalization With Advanced Heart Failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology
http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/short/52/21/1702
Surrogate and physician understanding of patients' preferences for living permanently in a
nursing home. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1997 Jul;45(7):818-24.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9215332
""The DNA of family caregivers had degraded enough to reflect a shortening of lifespan:"
Accelerated Telomere Erosion Is Associated with a Declining Immune Function of Caregivers of
Alzheimer’s Disease Patients1
The Journal of Immunology, 2007, 179, 4249 -4254
http://www.jimmunol.org/cgi/content/full/179/6/4249
"Of the 17 cardiologists who wrote the guidelines, 11 received financing from cardiac device makers."
2008 Clinical Guidelines for Initiating Device-Based Therapy: Circulation, May 15 2008
http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/CIRCUALTIONAHA.108.189741
"The research backing the expansion of diagnoses was weak:"
Scientific Evidence Underlying the ACC/AHA Clinical Practice Guidelines, by Pierluigi Tricoci et al.
JAMA. 2009;301(8):831-841.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/301/8/831
"The American Heart Association issued guidelines saying that "deactivating a pacemaker [or cardiac defibrillator] is neither euthanasia nor assisted suicide:"
HRS Expert Consensus Statement on the Management of Cardiovascular Implantable Electronic
Devices (CIEDs) in patients nearing end of life.
http://www.hrsonline.org/Policy/ClinicalGuidelines/upload/ceids_mgmt_eol.pdf
"In 2009, the medical industry spent over $500 million on lobbying:"
http://Opensecrets.org