Researchers have analyzed the day when millions of cancer patients died over a very long period. And the results speak for themselves.
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Can end-of-life patients postpone and choose the moment of their death? Yes, according to a large-scale American study presented this weekend at the Chicago Cancer Congress, a benchmark congress of the fight against cancer : this is where the main advances in research are announced each year, the results of more than 5,000 studies carried out around the world.
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In recent years, small studies have discovered a “holiday effect” in the death of cancer patients at the end of life. Kanan Shah wanted to be clear: this young oncologist from New York has identified the day of death of ten million American cancer patients over a period of 17 years. She then discovered that she was able to draw conclusions that were disturbing to say the least: “Patients have been found to die more on Fridays and Saturdays, also after holidays, especially Christmas holidays.”
She explains this phenomenon:In fact, these terminally ill people manage to hold on, have a start. They want to see their loved ones, their family one last time, before they die. But their relatives work during the week, so they come to the hospital as soon as they can, Thursday evening, Friday, Saturday. At that moment, they say goodbye… and right after, the patients let go psychologically, and their bodies too. There is a spike in deaths. It’s the same after the Christmas holidays“.
The researcher therefore suggests that, in the absence of their loved ones during the week, terminally ill cancer patients should be better supported, listened to and calmed down by health professionals. Because “death should not choose its day.“