What If A Loved One Is Dying?

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Blossom's post mentioning end of life wasting made me think of this, and I was wondering what you guys think.

If a family member is near death in a hospice sort of situation what would you do?

I heard a hospice nurse talking about common symptoms at the end of life and I was thinking that it sounds exactly like severe euthyroid sick syndrome, as if the liver stopped producing T3. I then went and looked and found a few papers that suggest that is in fact what occurs, often T3 drops low and rT3 goes high as a person is dying from chronic disease.

I couldn't help but think that a person in that state could possibly recover with high doses of T3 and sugar, but at the same time I wouldn't want to interfere with someone dying in dignity. One of the most horrifying things modern medicine does, is to artificially extend end of life suffering by keeping people alive but near death for long periods of time. I wouldn't want that or wish it on anyone.
 

Blossom

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I completely agree with both of your points. I think there are many things we can do to help people move toward a restored cellular metabolism. It would be very tricky to do if medicine was involved. I've also seen that what we have to offer currently with heroic interventions is akin to torture. I actually tortured someone today by sticking a suction catheter through his nose and down into his lungs. It's a great way to end your life I'm sure.(sarcasm)
I think the best bet is to start as soon as possible with supports before a person feels they need medical services. The difficulty is convincing reasonably well people they need to do anything at all! Sick people usually just want a doctor because that's what our medicalized society believes in unfortunately.
 
OP
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Blossom said:
The difficulty is convincing reasonably well people they need to do anything at all!

That really seems challenging as it seems like people always respond negatively to unsolicited suggestions.

Isaac Asimov said 'Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.' Perhaps the same is true with health care?
 

Blossom

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I don't feel able to really speak intelligently on this topic fully yet but I have been getting the impression from reading Peat's work that in people very ill the process of protective inhibition should probably come before the boosting of metabolism. It seems like the anticholinergics might be a valuable first step. Dying people do often receive atropine and scopolamine during the transition process. I just wanted to throw that out there.
 

narouz

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Blossom said:
...I have been getting the impression from reading Peat's work that in people very ill the process of protective inhibition should probably come before the boosting of metabolism. It seems like the anticholinergics might be a valuable first step....

I heard or read this also.
Was it in the context of dementia/Alzheimer's?
Seems like maybe so,
because I also remember Peat saying
it is useful to know if the type of dementia
is "cold brain" or "warm brain."

And as you note, Blossom,
he said--before possible thyroid supplementation--
protective substances should be used.
I remember he mentioned magnesium.
And I assume he would also consider
aspirin and niacinamide to be protective.

On magnesium:
Peat generally seems very down on the use of metals in the form of supplements.
His reasoning is a bit complicated, and I hope to post on this in another thread soon.
But in the kind of intervention situation we're discussing here,
seems like the use of a good magnesium supplement might be called for.
Anbody have any ideas?
Food-wise, coffee has a lot of magnesium.
Don't oranges, also?

On the word "protective":
I guess we're talking about protection, primarily,
from the release and breakdown breakdown products of PUFA,
and the cascade of bad guys they stimulate.
 

Blossom

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This post isn't about trying in any manner to save a loved one from dying but it could be helpful for someone who finds him or herself dealing with death as an inevitable aspect of a family member or friends life.
Sometimes people hang on and linger when expected to go quickly. I've learned that the dying process isn't always predictable. People do seem to hang on even when unresponsive if distraught family members are near by and grieving. I've witnessed it first hand more times than I can count unfortunately but it taught me that unconscious people definitely seem to still hear what's being said around them. If someone seems to be lingering and suffering it often works to tell the loved one that it's okay to go and give reassurance that everyone understands and it will be okay. I was surprised when I first saw this happen as a new hospice worker but I have witnessed it happen so often now that I have no doubt that dying people sometimes want permission to move on.
It's a shame that life and especially death has become so medicalized. I think we are all more than capable if we wish to handle this normal part of life.
 
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Blossom, thanks for pointing out Protective Inhibition. I wasn't sure what it meant, but looked it up and see that it's an important idea worth studying.

If anyone else is interested Ray covers this in his "Alzheimer's Part 2" article. It's an old (and out of common use) neuroscience term coined by Pavlov which refers to nerves shutting down response to stimuli when fatigued, in order to recover.
 

SQu

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I agree blossom, they do sometimes hear you. I have experienced this myself three times and once told my husband not to speak aloud about her death in front of his apparently comatose mother. She later regained consciousness and remembered his words.
 

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