Does heart disease have a place in hospice?
Heart-related diseases are the most common cause of death, and one of the most common causes of disability in America. Hospice care, if done well, provides life-changing improvement in how these people feel.
The most common heart condition is heart failure (chf). CHF means that the heart muscle weakens and can no longer pump blood and oxygen to the rest of the body. Not surprisingly, people who suffer with it experience shortness of breath, fatigue and chest pain. I scripture, the disease was referred to as dropsy.
Another common heart condition is coronary artery blockage. God made us with pencil-sized tubes that carry blood to the heart muscle. When they are clogged with cholesterol, the heart muscle becomes oxygen starved and that hurts. It is what we call “angina.”
So where does hospice fit in to these diseases? Palliative heart treatment involves maximizing heart medications, and adding palliative medications such as morphine. In some patients, low-dose morphine has the magical effect of decreasing shortness of breath and angina. Morphine relaxes the small muscle in the heart artery walls, thereby allowing more blood to flow. It also decreases the pain sensation. All of these effects permit the patient to be more active.
Does placing a heart patient on hospice mean that we have given up on them? Absolutely not! In fact, one study showed that heart patients live an average of 65 days longer if they are on hospice. In actuality, the hospice cared-for patients get more and better treatment.
