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	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

People who are dying of a serious medical condition for which no cure is available or for which treatments have failed have a terminal illness. These patients can receive comfort care, which focuses not on life-prolonging measures but on relieving pain and suffering at the end of life. Palliative care provides comfort care to the patient by focusing on relieving symptoms such as pain, anxiety, nausea, and difficulty breathing. Family members as well as the patient are provided with emotional, social, and spiritual support to help them with the dying process. Hospice care provides palliative treatment, often with a team approach, to serve a variety of patient and family needs such as home nursing care, social services, pain management, and spiritual support. The October 12, 2005, issue of JAMA includes an article about palliative sedation.

PALLIATIVE SEDATION

Terminal illnesses can cause distressing symptoms, such as severe pain, mental confusion, muscle . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Erin Brender, MD, Writer; Alison Burke, MA, Illustrator; Richard M. Glass, MD, Editor

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