Terminally ill people shouldn't be given food and water artificially if they don't want it because it may only heighten their discomfort, researchers say.
Starving seems to ease such patients' deaths because dehydration lessens consciousness, promotes sleepiness and diminishes pain, the researchers said.Such patients usually want very little nourishment in their final months.
"Patients terminally ill with cancer generally did not experience hunger, and those who did needed only small amounts of food for alleviation," the researchers said in today's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Previous studies reflect similar observations, but they run counter to the behavior of many doctors and families, said the lead author, Dr. Robert M. McCann.
"There's that whole thing of food as love. That type of emphasis is really misplaced in people who are dying," said McCann, head of geriatrics at Rochester General Hospital in Rochester, N.Y. "Families of the dying - they don't know what to do sometimes. So this (artificial feeding) is what they do."
The study involved 32 patients. All expressed a desire not to be fed or given liquids through tubes. They were allowed anything they wanted to eat and drink, including food brought by families.
"They lost their appetite. They didn't want to eat anymore," said co-author Dr. Annmarie Groth-Juncker.