Why do hospices stop giving food and water to terminally ill patients?
Continuing to provide food and water or opting for artificial nutrition or hydration (ANH)-such as nasal (NG) or gastric (PEG) feeding tubes or IV fluids for hydration–can actually complicate the dying process and cause other health problems.
Artificially fed patients may experience shortness of breath, tube complications (such as blockage or infection), discomfort, aspiration pneumonia, pressure ulcers, edema, and a “sinking” or “trapped” feeling.
In addition, studies have shown that artificial nutrition has very little effect on the survival of hospice patients. For example, research shows that tube-fed dementia patients have no different life expectancy than patients who are slowly fed by hand.