Quality of Life at the End Stages of Life

Abstract

Death has never been easy for human beings. The meaning of death is now and has always been a profound mystery. As if that has not been difficult enough, the transition from death to life has unsettled all but the most hardy spirits. The enormous and troubling irony of modern death, however, is that medicine seems to have made it harder, not easier, to die. Perhaps that is not surprising. The premise of modern scientific medicine is that, with sufficient knowledge and skill, death and illness can be overcome, pushed aside at least for a time, and perhaps for a longer and longer time.