• Question: Do you think it is better to make ill peoples lives better (such as helping people to walk again) or to cause them discomfort but remove all danger of the particular disease?

    Asked by niall1997 to Bob, Katie, Nisha, Sallie, Vee on 28 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Sallie Baxendale

      Sallie Baxendale answered on 28 Jun 2012:

      That’s a really interesting question. We all go through a small amount of discomfort to reduce the dangers of disease when we have injections. Most people think that its worth suffering a small amount of pain for a short while to ensure they dont catch measles, mumps or any of the other nasty diseases we can immunise against. But nobody would want to be in discomfort for the rest of their lives. It’a a balance. Doctors normally think that when the cure is worse than the disease, its not really a very good cure.

    • Photo: Katie McDonald

      Katie McDonald answered on 28 Jun 2012:

      I agree, a brilliant question. As a doctor I’ve seen so many examples of these kinds of choices being made on the wards. Lots of people think we are the ones to decide on the treatment and just tell people what to do, but in a case with those kinds of problems we generally outline the difficulties to the patient and let them decide. An example: some ladies with breast cancer would rather have a large operation to definitely take away any possible trace of disease, while others would rather have a smaller area of tissue taken, and hope for a better cosmetic result. We check the sample in the lab to see if tumour is at the margins, then the woman may have to get a further operation. So if she’s lucky, she might only have a small lump taken, and if she’s unlucky she has had to have two operations, which is worse than just one big one. None of the options are brilliant, but giving people a choice, armed with facts, is best.

    • Photo: Vee Mitchell

      Vee Mitchell answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      A very good question and one that I think the others have covered well already, and they have more experience in this area. I think it should be about the patients choice. Many cancer patients have to make that decision, do they suffer long treatments of chemotherapy that will make them fell very ill or just let the cancer take its course. I suppose the age you are when you get it, the likelihood that the treatment will work, you personal circumstances would have a big influence on your decision. I hope I’m never in the position to have to make that choice.

    • Photo: Bob Bonwick

      Bob Bonwick answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      A difficult question to answer with any kind of ease. In a way you have answered your own question, “… remove all danger…”. At best by removing all danger, we also try and make that person as comfortable as possible, it might not be convenient, but they are alive and not in pain, they will continue to live too.

Comments