Euthanasia, dystanasis and orthotanasia are terms that define forms of medical approach in relation to patient death. Thus, euthanasia is defined as the act of “anticipating death”, dystanasia characterizes “a slow death, with suffering”, while orthotanasia represents “natural death”. , without anticipation or extension. “
These concepts are widely discussed in the context of bioethics, an area that studies the conditions necessary for the responsible management of human, animal and environmental life, opinions may vary depending on how or not these practices are supported.
- However.
- In general.
- Euthanasia is prohibited by law in most countries.
- While distanasia is considered a bad practice in medicine and orthotanasia is a good practice.
- Being recommended to treat people with incurable and terminal diseases.
Euthanasia is the act of shortening a person’s life. It is a word of Greek origin, meaning “good death” because its intention, when practiced, is to end the suffering of the person who is suffering from a serious and incurable disease.
However, euthanasia is illegal in most countries because it involves human life, the most precious good you can have. Professionals against this practice claim that human life is inviolable and that no one has the right to shorten it and, moreover, it is very difficult to define which people can still see their suffering alleviated without having to anticipate their death.
There are different types of euthanasia, which better define how this anticipation of death will be performed, and include:
It is important to remember that there is a different form of euthanasia called passive euthanasia, characterized by the suspension or discontinuation of medical treatments that support the patient’s life, without offering any medication by its abbreviation, a term that is not widely used, since it is considered that, in this case, the death of the person does not occur, but is intended to allow the patient to die naturally and , therefore, is not illegal. This act is included in the practice of orthotanasia, which is explained below.
Active euthanasia or assisted suicide is legalized in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, Colombia, Canada and some states of the United States of America.
These countries consider that an adult, with informed and signed consent, or a minor with parental consent, has the right to decide to die in specific situations, such as an incurable disease that causes suffering.
Orthotanasia promotes a natural and dignified death that follows the course of life, without making treatments considered futile, invasive and artificial to keep the person alive and prolong death, such as breathing by devices, for example.
Orthotanasia is practiced through palliative care, an approach that seeks to maintain the quality of life of the patient and his family, in case of serious and incurable diseases, helping to control physical, psychological, social and spiritual symptoms. Understand what palliative care is and when it’s right.
Thus, in orthothanasia, death is seen as something natural that every human being will go through, seeking the purpose that is not to shorten or postpone death, but to find the best way to go through it, preserving the dignity of the person. sick.
Dystanasia is the act of prolonging the day of a person’s death, thus prolonging pain and suffering, so dysstanasia is considered a medical practice, because it promotes a slow death, through treatments considered useless and without benefits for the terminally ill.
This term, also known as therapeutic obstinacy, is still, unfortunately, widely practiced in Brazil and around the world, due to the knowledge of the population about what is considered useful or not for a person with a serious and incurable disease.
To reduce such practices, it is necessary to understand that there are cases where death is inevitable, and that prolonging the process of death only promotes a quality-free life, resulting in a slow death, increasing the risk of suffering, pain and agony. for the patient and family that accompanies this process.