End-of-Life Decision Making Glossary of Terms

Advance directives: These directives pertain to treatment preferences and the designation of a surrogate decision-maker in the event that a person should become unable to make medical decisions on their own behalf. Advance directives generally fall into three categories: living will, power of attorney and health care proxy.
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Aging: The process of becoming older, a process that is genetically determined and environmentally modulated.
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Antibiotic: A drug used to treat infections caused by bacteria and other microorganisms. Originally, an antibiotic was a substance produced by one microorganism that selectively inhibits the growth of another. Synthetic antibiotics, usually chemically related to natural antibiotics, have since been produced that accomplish comparable tasks.
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Brain: That part of the central nervous system that is located within the cranium (skull). The brain functions as the primary receiver, organizer and distributor of information for the body. It has two (right and left) halves called "hemispheres."

Breathing: The process of respiration, during which air is inhaled into the lungs through the mouth or nose due to muscle contraction, and then exhaled due to muscle relaxation.

Cancer: An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, in some cases, to metastasize (spread).
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Cardiopulmonary: Having to do with both the heart and lungs.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation: The emergency substitution of heart and lung action to restore life to someone who appears dead. The two main components of conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) are chest compression to make the heart pump and mouth-to-mouth ventilation to breath for the victim. Hands-only CPR is a form of resuscitation that involves continuous, rapid chest compressions only, and although effective, it is not as beneficial as conventional CPR in a patient who is not breathing.
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CPR: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Also cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation and computer-based patient records.

Dementia: Significant loss of intellectual abilities such as memory capacity, severe enough to interfere with social or occupational functioning.
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Durable power of attorney: This is a type of advance medical directive in which legal documents provide the power of attorney to another person in the case of an incapacitating medical condition.
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End stage: The last phase in the course of a progressive disease. As in end-stage liver disease, end-stage lung disease, end-stage renal disease, end-stage cancer, etc. The term "end stage" has come to replace "terminal" because somehow "end stage" seems more scientific and less despairing than "terminal." The only "stage" past "end stage" is usually death or a reprieve from it by a transplant.

Father: (1) The male parent. (2) One who originates. For example, "Wilhelm Roentgen is considered the father of radiology." (3) To produce offspring as a male. (4) To provide paternal protection and guidance to children.

Geriatrics: The branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease in older people and the problems specific to aging.
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Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. It is positioned in the chest behind the sternum (breastbone; in front of the trachea, esophagus, and aorta; and above the diaphragm muscle that separates the chest and abdominal cavities. The normal heart is about the size of a closed fist, and weighs about 10.5 ounces. It is cone-shaped, with the point of the cone pointing down to the left. Two-thirds of the heart lies in the left side of the chest with the balance in the right chest.
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Heterosexual: A person sexually attracted to persons of the opposite sex. Or a person who has sexual relations with the opposite sex. Colloquially known as "straight."
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Hospice: A program or facility that provides special care for people who are near the end of life and for their families. Hospice care can be provided at home, in a hospice or another freestanding facility, or within a hospital. See also: Hospice care.

Indicate: In medicine, to make a treatment or procedure advisable because of a particular condition or circumstance. For example, certain medications are indicated for the treatment of hypertension during pregnancy while others are contraindicated.

Intensive care: See critical care.

Living will: A living will is one form of advance medical directive. Advance medical directives pertain to treatment preferences and the designation of a surrogate decision-maker in the event that a person should become unable to make medical decisions on their own behalf.
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Medicaid: State programs of public assistance to persons regardless of age whose income and resources are insufficient to pay for health care. The United States federal government provides matching funds to the state Medicaid programs.

Medicare: The United States government's health insurance program for:

• "senior citizens" -- people 65 years of age or older,
• certain younger people with specific disabilities, and
• people with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) -- permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or a transplant.

Organic: 1. A chemical compound that contains carbon.
2. Related to an organ.
3. Grown or prepared without the use of chemicals or pesticides, as in organic food.

Organic brain syndrome: Psychiatric or neurological symptoms, including problems with attention, concentration, and memory, confusion, anxiety, and depression, arising from damage to or disease in the brain. Also called organic mental disorder. See also: Neurobiological disorder.

Pharmacy: A location where prescription drugs are sold. A pharmacy is, by law, constantly supervised by a licensed pharmacist.

Pneumonia: Inflammation of one or both lungs with consolidation. Pneumonia is frequently but not always due to infection. The infection may be bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic. Symptoms may include fever, chills, cough with sputum production, chest pain, and shortness of breath.

Psychiatric: Pertaining to or within the purview of psychiatry, the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness.
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Resuscitate: To restore to life. Derived from the Latin resuscitare, to reawaken.

Resuscitation: The procedure of restoring to life, as in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Senility: 1. Originally, old age. 2. The physical decline associated with old age. 3. The mental decline once associated with old age but now known to be due to dementia, as for instance Alzheimer's disease and atherosclerosis. "The road to senility is paved with plaques." (Paul F. Wehrle, MD [1921-2004] pediatrician and vaccine researcher who helped eradicate smallpox)
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Stage: As regards cancer, the extent of a cancer, especially whether the disease has spread from the original site to other parts of the body. See also: Staging.

Syndrome: A set of signs and symptoms that tend to occur together and which reflect the presence of a particular disease or an increased chance of developing a particular disease.
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Therapy: The treatment of disease.
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