Wrong medicine.Tube feeding tube feeding, n a method for supplying liquid nutrition through a tube that passes through the nasal passages and into the stomach. This method is utilized when ingesting food through the oral cavity is inadvisable or painful due to surgery or injury. doesn't help dementia patients RESEARCHERS HAVE CONCLUDED THAT feeding tube feeding tube n. A flexible tube that is inserted through the pharynx and into the esophagus and stomach and through which liquid food is passed. use in people with dementia does not prolong survival and may cause physical problems. After conducting MEDLINE The online medical database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) whose parent is the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. MEDLINE contains millions of articles from thousands of medical journals and publications. The consumer section of the site (http://medlineplus. searches, researchers found that tube feeding does not prevent the effects of malnutrition, improve survival, prevent or improve pressure ulcers, reduce the risk of infection, improve function, or increase patient comfort. But they learned it can cause adverse effects such as aspiration pneumonia aspiration pneumonia n. Bronchopneumonia resulting from the entrance of foreign material, usually food particles or vomit, into the bronchi. aspiration pneumonia and local infection. "On every count there is no evidence to support tube feeding," says Stephen McConnell, PhD, vice president of program and public policy for the Alzheimer's Association in response to the study in the October 13 Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association is an international peer-reviewed general medical journal, published 48 times per year by the American Medical Association. JAMA is the most widely circulated medical journal in the world. . He admits it may be a hard sell to families, who feel guilty about withholding treatment, and some providers. "If a person goes on tube feeding, it is considered skilled care and eligible for Medicare reimbursement," he says. "Policies will pay for things like this, but not the necessary chronic care. It takes staff to do hand feeding." |
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