Jenna ❤ ❀ ❤'s Reviews > Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

Not many of us relish the idea of growing old, our bodies slowly breaking down, becoming weaker and weaker. Losing your teeth and your eye sight dimming. Having aches and pains and trouble getting out of bed. Your memory and thought processes declining, becoming less and less clear. There is not much fun in this and yet far fewer of us would prefer the alternative -- to not age, to die young.

Depressing but important and informative, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End is about the aging process and our mortality. Dr. Atul Gawande discusses what happens as we age and how we in the West treat the elderly. He argues that quality of life should be the medical profession's aim. When there is no cure for a person, why use every possible treatment to prolong a person's life at the expense of the quality of the time they have left? He calls for a change in how we handle old age and the end of life in order to cause less suffering, even if it means the person will have a few months fewer to live. Doctors, not wanting to admit defeat, will often recommend procedures and surgeries that will cause no small amount of suffering. The patients and their families, thinking there is some hope after all, often agree to these treatments. Instead, we should aim to lessen suffering, and to allow people to die with as much dignity as possible.

This book really opened my eyes to what it's like to be in a nursing home. For most patients, they are basically a prison. Unfortunately, many people become unable to stay at home alone or to take care of all their own basic needs and end up in one. Dr. Gawande discusses alternative homes and hospice, which are much more compassionate and that let the elderly feel more comfortable.
I could have done with fewer human interest stories and more facts, as he talks about many individuals and relates their stories. There was quite a bit of repetition because of this and so I think maybe 3 or 4 people's stories would have been sufficient. I loved all the facts, depressing as they are. Unless we die young, we are all going to one day become old. Our bodies and brains will deteriorate, weakening and worsening until we finally succumb to death. Not much fun about that. However, thinking about these things ahead of time, we can prepare for the time when we no longer can take care of ourselves. We also can become more compassionate towards those who are already elderly. We can change how we treat them, becoming more compassionate in the process.

This is an important book for all of us to read, but don't expect to feel an overabundance of joy whilst doing so.