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Book Review;Terminal care 书评;临终关怀 Go gentle into that good night; 温和地走入那个良夜; The Best Care Possible: A Physician s Quest toTransform Care Through the End of Life. By IraByock. 《可能是最好的医护手段：一位内科医生试图改革生命尽头的医护方法。》Ira Byock著作。 Asked where they would like to spend their last days, Americans almost always say at home,surrounded by people they love. In real life, though, only one in five achieves that. More than30% die in a nursing home, where almost no one wants to be, and over half end up in ahospital, often in an intensive-care unit, heavily sedated and attached to life-savingequipment until their doctors give up the battle. 对大多数美国人来说，倘若最后的时光能在家中度过，周围环绕着挚爱亲朋，便是走也能走得称心了。然而，只有五分之一的人能实现这个愿望。谁也不想去疗养院，可却有超过三成的人死在那里;另外有超过半数的人死在医院的重症监护室里，身上注射了大量镇定剂，连接在生命维持设备上，直到医生宣布投降。 Death is a difficult subject for anyone, but Americans want to talk about it less than most.They have a cultural expectation that whatever may be wrong with them, it can be fixedwith the right treatment, and if the first doctor does not offer it they may seek a second, thirdor fourth opinion. Litigation is a constant threat, so even if a patient is very ill and likely todie, doctors and hospitals will still persist with aggressive treatment, paid for by the insureror, for the elderly, by Medicare. That is one reason why America spends 18% of its GDP onhealth care, the highest proportion in the world. | 
