Terminal Dehydration: Experience, Perceptions Of End-Of-Life Palliative Care Nutrition And Hydration - Podcast

Most palliative care patients, at the end-of-life, will have a significantly decreased food or drink intake, if any at all. Such cessation can be due to lack of energy, anorexia, dysphasia or nausea and this absence of nutrition leads to isotonic dehydration: the loss of salt and water from the body. Whilst potentially distressing for the families and health professionals, isotonic dehydration can be beneficial for the patient.

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Filed under: Nutrition / Diet on February 2nd, 2009