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Living with Illness
- Populations
- Advocating for Care
- Assessment Tools
- Caregiver/caregiving/providing care
- Communication
- Decisions / Decision making
- Dignity
- Conditions/Diseases
- Emotional Health
- Financial
- Nutrition / Hydration / Food / Eating / Drinking
- Palliative Care Emergency
- Palliative Sedation / Sedation for Palliative Purposes
- Research
- Symptoms/What to Expect
- Provinces
- Palliative Care
- Treatments/Interventions
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
- Remembering and memories
- Educators
- Author
- LMC
- Eating and Drinking
- Diets
- Final Days
- Grief / Loss / Bereavement
- Programs and Services
- For Professionals
- More
Glossary
Our glossary explains some of the medical and legal terms used in palliative care.
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Burden of illness
The total effect of an illness on the body. The change or reduction in energy level and body functions as a result of the body's response to illness.
Burden of illness
The total effect of an illness on the body. The change or reduction in energy level and body functions as a result of the body's response to illness.
Cachexia
Severe weight loss and muscle wasting caused by the body’s inability to use nutrients from food.
Cachexia
Severe weight loss and muscle wasting caused by the body’s inability to use nutrients from food.
Chemotherapy
A treatment that uses medications to damage cancer cells, to stop them from growing and dividing. Common side effects may include nausea, vomiting, tiredness, pain and hair loss.
Chemotherapy
A treatment that uses medications to damage cancer cells, to stop them from growing and dividing. Common side effects may include nausea, vomiting, tiredness, pain and hair loss.
Chest compressions
Repeated, rhythmic pressure on the chest of someone whose heart has stopped beating. The repeated pressure helps keep blood circulating in the body.
Chest compressions
Repeated, rhythmic pressure on the chest of someone whose heart has stopped beating. The repeated pressure helps keep blood circulating in the body.
Cheyne-Stokes
Clusters of rapid breathing that start with shallow breaths that become deeper and deeper, and then fade off, becoming shallower and shallower. Each cluster is separated by a pause in breathing.
Cheyne-Stokes
Clusters of rapid breathing that start with shallow breaths that become deeper and deeper, and then fade off, becoming shallower and shallower. Each cluster is separated by a pause in breathing.