Introduction:
Medical treatments can be categorized into various types, and palliative care is one of them. Palliative care is a treatment that helps decrease the severe symptoms of a critical medical condition, and thus, the patient’s quality of life can be improved.
It commonly involves a team approach and takes both the physical and emotional problems of cancer patients into concern. The most commonly acknowledged symptoms include nausea, pain, anorexia, etc., and helps the cancer specialist to focus on the cancer treatment. Hospital care or hospice care differs from palliative care in a way that the former is given during the last six months of the patient’s life, whereas the latter can be provided at any point in time, starting from diagnosis of cancer to the final or terminal stage cancer.
How Is Palliative Therapy Different from Hospice Care?
It is important to understand that palliative care is not hospice care though they both share the same goals. Palliative treatment can also be given to cancer patients in their early treatable stages. Studies have shown that palliative care in cancer patients has helped in improving their quality of life.
What Are the Goals of Palliative Care?
Palliative care follows philosophy rather than a particular mode of treatment. The main goal is to relieve the pain and suffering of the patient which circulates the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects.
The major cancer treatments remain to be chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. Palliative care is given along with these to manage the symptoms faced by the patients during and due to the other major three treatments.
Which Symptoms Can Palliative Care Manage?
As mentioned above, palliative care can help in managing symptoms faced due to other curative treatments of cancer. Following are the symptoms that can be taken care of using this palliative care:
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Pain.
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Nausea.
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Breathing difficulty or shortness of breath.
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Vomiting.
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Weakness.
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Fatigue.
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Physical limitations.
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Depression.
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Sadness or grief.
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Psychological or spiritual questioning like the meaning of life or survival with cancer.
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Financial needs.
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Needs of the caregiver.
Apart from the above-mentioned symptoms, it also helps in focusing the treatment steps ahead by the patient as well as the specialist.
What Are the Palliative Treatments Available?
A palliative medicine specialist will talk about palliative care, and the oncologist will explain about chemotherapy or palliative chemotherapy. In case of any doubt, consult your doctor to know more about it. If you are prescribed medicines to manage the symptoms and not cure cancer, it is called palliative chemotherapy.
1. Palliative Chemotherapy:
Chemotherapy can be provided to patients in a variety of ways which are explained below:
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Chemotherapy for Curing - This type of chemotherapy helps in curing cancer like leukemia.
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Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy - It is a partial curative therapy wherein the cancer is shrunk to a smaller size using chemotherapy before doing surgery to remove the cancerous tissue.
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Adjuvant Chemotherapy - This type of chemotherapy is given after the surgery has been performed to kill any remaining cancerous tissues like in breast cancer patients. Also, it will help prevent the recurrence of cancer.
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Palliative Chemotherapy - It will not cure cancer but can help in shrinking cancer to minimize the symptoms, and also, in a few cases, it may prolong the life expectancy of the patients.
It is important to distinguish between the various above-mentioned types of chemotherapy so that the exact treatment can be decided and given. Talking to your physician or specialist about the same is important.
2. Palliative Radiation Therapy:
This therapy is also used like chemotherapy. The aim is also similar, that is. To minimize the symptoms even though cancer cannot be cured with this. This type of radiation is helpful in patients suffering from pain in the bone due to metastases of cancer, etc. Along with certain medications that can cause certain side effects, palliative radiation can improve the quality of life in such patients.
Who Constitutes the Palliative Care Team?
Palliative care is provided by a team, and the center or main focus is you or the patient. Depending on your symptoms and input and the type and stage of cancer, along with its involvement and treatments decided or done, the team will be formed. The following commonly constitute the team:
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Nurse.
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Social worker.
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Physical therapy.
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Respiratory therapist.
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Chaplain.
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Any other specialist depending on your requirements.
The above team works together along with other specialists and oncologists as and when required. They also keep a look at the treatments being done on you and your recovery or response status.
When and How Should I Get Palliative Care?
Palliative care should be started when the diagnosis of cancer has been made, but it can be started at any time. Studies have shown better improvement in the quality of life if started earlier. There are no studies or scientific evidence on how often you should get it. Although, according to team recommendations, you should take it multiple times depending on the requirements.
How Can I Consult a Palliative Care Specialist?
Usually, cancer institutes have their separate palliative medicine or care department. If not, you can talk to your doctor about it and consult a specialist. It is important to talk freely about the symptoms and difficulties you are facing so that your physician can advise you with the best treatment options and palliative care available.
Conclusion:
Palliative care is an adjunct to improve the symptoms, quality of life, and life expectancy. But it cannot cure cancer. It is important to talk to your physician about your requirements and the symptoms you are facing. Online medical platforms have made searching and consulting a specialist job easy. Hence, consult a palliative care specialist online to know more about this.
