|
|
Article: End-of-Life Issues
- Article from:
- Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
End-of-Life Issues
Before the 1950s, end-of-life decisions were simpler than they are today. Most people died in their own homes, surrounded by family and loved ones. Illnesses such as scarlet fever, cholera, measles, diarrhea, influenza, pneumonia, and gastritis killed quickly. Medical science had not yet learned how to keep people with such chronic diseases as heart disease and cancer alive. Lifesaving technology, such as respirators and feeding tubes, was not available. Nature, not medicine, controlled the timing of one's death.
This began to change in the 1950s as medical technology increasingly became able to thwart death through an array of technical tools that could keep hearts ...