Can Sheer Will Power Keep Patients Alive in Their Dying Hours?
September 26, 2016
(STAT News) – Hospice and palliative care clinicians routinely see cases in which people who are nearing life’s end seem to will themselves to hold on until a certain point, after which time they let go. And while some people hold on long enough to see a loved one, others seem to do the opposite, clinging to life until they are left alone. Dr. Toby Campbell, an oncologist and palliative care specialist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, said patients tend not to have a lot of control at the very end of their lives. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have any.