Being Mortal
Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End
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4.7 • 75 Ratings
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- £6.49
Publisher Description
AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4 'A GOOD READ'
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
'GAWANDE'S MOST POWERFUL, AND MOVING, BOOK' MALCOLM GLADWELL
'BEING MORTAL IS NOT ONLY WISE AND DEEPLY MOVING; IT IS AN ESSENTIAL AND INSIGHTFUL BOOK FOR OUR TIMES' OLIVER SACKS
For most of human history, death was a common, ever-present possibility. It didn't matter whether you were five or fifty - every day was a roll of the dice. But now, as medical advances push the boundaries of survival further each year, we have become increasingly detached from the reality of being mortal. So here is a book about the modern experience of mortality - about what it's like to get old and die, how medicine has changed this and how it hasn't, where our ideas about death have gone wrong. With his trademark mix of perceptiveness and sensitivity, Atul Gawande outlines a story that crosses the globe, as he examines his experiences as a surgeon and those of his patients and family, and learns to accept the limits of what he can do.
Never before has aging been such an important topic. The systems that we have put in place to manage our mortality are manifestly failing; but, as Gawande reveals, it doesn't have to be this way. The ultimate goal, after all, is not a good death, but a good life - all the way to the very end.
Customer Reviews
Being mortal by Atul Gawande
Quite simply the best book that I have read this year and perhaps one the most important ever. This should be recommended reading for all health professionals and essential reading medical students.
Gawande's argument is that modern medicine has lost its way in the treatment of the elderly and those with incurable disease. From the premise that modern western society will not return to the culture of the extended family (and indeed he argues that this is already happening in urban culture in developing nations) he bemoans the way in which the elderly are cared for, with an emphasis on medical management and risk avoidance. He argues for an emphasis on wellbeing and considering the priorities of the elderly beyond extending life (if that is indeed what they want). He illustrates this with examples of supported living where the residents are able to make their own choices, even if they are considered unwise.
He continues the argument against this relentlessly management of advanced incurable disease and argues for identifying what the priorities of the patient are. He presents data showing that those offered palliative treatment live longer than those given aggressive medical treatments such as third or fourth line chemotherapy and undoubtedly experience a greater quality of life in their last months and days.
Gawande expresses eloquently what is intuitive to many, but apparently not to so many in the medical profession. If this book had been written by a palliative care physician it would have had a considerable impact, but as great as coming from a surgeon, who describes his own struggles with coming to reject the philosophy of prolonging life at all costs that has been that of his predecessors and peers.
A must read.
Beautiful
Not a revolution. But a deepening. Beautifully written. Simplistic at times but always elegant. Deeply knowledgeable in medicine. A treat and an important book to me, as a doctor.
Touching and real!
A brilliant book. Every chapter is very sensitively written. Very touching, my eyes welled up in a few chapters. Once you start this, make sure you finish to the end, no matter how emotionally hard it is, for the journey to the end mattered. Thank you.