80 per cent Of Americans Risk Not Have A Living Will

Released on = January 5, 2006, 10:10 am

Press Release Author = EliteLivingWills

Industry = Healthcare

Press Release Summary = Research continues to suggest that 4 of every 5 Americans do
not have a Living Will, and that around half of Living Wills have been so hastily
prepared that they would be ignored by medical professionals.

Press Release Body =
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
15/12/2005


80% Of Americans Risk Not Have A Living Will

Research continues to suggest that 4 of every 5 Americans do not have a Living Will,
and that around half of Living Wills have been so hastily prepared that they would
be ignored by medical professionals.



Can you imagine yourself in this harrowing type of situation, which happens everyday
throughout the country?

Completely unexpectedly, your elderly mother collapses from a major stroke, and she
lays in the hospital bed for eight weeks, unable to communicate with anyone. Then
the doctors take you to one side to tell you that she is developing life-threatening
pneumonia. They ask what you want done. You are panicky and confused - should you
let them try to treat the pneumonia with antibiotics or should you let nature run
its course? In this extremely torturous situation, you will literally have to decide
if your mother lives or dies. If antibiotics are administered and the pneumonia is
cured, she would probably spend the rest of her days hospitalized and comatose.
Under this awful pressure, you have to make a heart-wrenching decision - and then
live with it for the rest of your life.

Do you want to put your loved ones in that situation? Or would you rather relieve
them of having to make these most agonizing, yet vitally urgent, decisions about
your future? Today, life support systems can keep your body alive for many years,
even if your brain is no longer functioning or you are in constant pain. Research at
Penn State University\'s Center for Special Populations and Health has indicated that
in at least two-thirds of cases, the awful burden of dealing with a family\'s affairs
in the final days of life falls on women, normally spouse or daughter. How would
your closest family cope with having to make vital medical decisions at such an
anguished time?

A living will could be the simple, effective answer, and is encouraged by every
state of the US.
A living will can give clear written instructions to your family and professionals
as to which medical treatments are acceptable under specified conditions. It enables
you to state exactly what can or cannot be done to keep you alive, and normally only
becomes effective when you are unable to express your wishes yourself. It is
extremely difficult and stressful for you to make medical directives whilst in the
throes of a serious disease or accident process. You may, of course, be totally
incapable of communicating your wishes. It is therefore highly desirable to prepare
directives of your wishes whilst you are relatively healthy and capable.

Your wishes may vary as your experiences and beliefs change, so living wills can be
updated from time to time to take account of such changes.

Contact Cliff Bowden for more insights into this topic. Email:
cliff@bowden.go-plus.net Other helpful information can be found at:
http://www.EliteLivingWills.com.


For More Information Contact:

Cliff Bowden
cliff@bowden.go-plus.net
www.EliteLivingWills.com



Web Site = http://www.EliteLivingWills.com

Contact Details = Cliff Bowden

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