No matter the cause, death can feel like it’s all the same in the end.
However, there may be “better” ways to go, according to one end-of-care expert.
Julie McFadden, a palliative care nurse in California, revealed in a podcast: “For me, there are a couple of illnesses that are the worst.”
Julie McFadden, a palliative care nurse in California, revealed the two “worst” diseases to die from, along with the best
The conditions Ms McFadden included on her “worst” list for dying because they are slow progressing and painful, leading to loss of independence.
The first cause he mentioned was ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
The condition is 100 percent fatal, but it can take anywhere from a few years to decades to cause death, and this is often terrifyingly cruel.
The nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movements gradually deteriorate and, over time, the muscles stop working, eventually including those responsible for breathing.
When this happens, patients usually end up dying from asphyxiation.
“I think ALS is one of the worst,” McFadden said in a TikTok clip from the Problem solved podcast. ‘ALS is really bad. If I ever had ALS, I think I would need medical help and die, like I would probably end up taking medication to end my own life.’
‘I just wouldn’t want to do it. That’s a tough one.’
The CDC estimates there are approximately 5,000 new cases a year. It is most common in adults between 55 and 75 years old, although patients can be as young as 20 years old.
Ms McFadden said that while no cause of death should be taken lightly, some causes can be more devastating than others, including ALS and glioblastoma, a brain cancer.
TikTok commenters shared Ms. McFadden’s sentiment.
User Jessica Weiser said: ‘I knew it would say ALS. I lost my father because of that, the cruelest thing he had ever witnessed.
‘My brother-in-law just died last year from ALS. A horrible disease,” said a commenter named JZ.
And Melissa Perfilio commented: ‘My grandmother has ALS.’
‘It’s the worst thing to see it deteriorate. I do not wish it to anyone.
McFadden also pointed to glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer that killed Sen. John McCain in 2018 and President Joe Biden’s son, Beau, in 2015.
According to the National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS), nearly 15,000 Americans will be diagnosed with this cancer each year and 10,000 will die.
Only one in 15 patients is expected to survive after five years.
‘Glioblastomas are quite difficult: they are brain tumors. It usually happens to young people and it’s difficult because it’s their brain, and their brain does a lot of things,” Ms McFadden said.
“When there are tumors there, things get messed up.”
NBTS states that it only takes months before many patients lose their independence and become unable to work, drive and perform other basic functions.
McFadden suggested that the muscle wasting disease ALS, which killed Stephen Hawking in 2018, is so devastating that he would seek medically assisted suicide if diagnosed with the disease. Meanwhile, he noted that end-stage kidney disease is “mild” compared
The disease is largely resistant to most treatments and can cause debilitating symptoms such as seizures, memory loss and severe headaches.
At the other end of the spectrum, Ms McFadden pointed to kidney disease as one of the “easiest” ways to die.
Chronic kidney disease, also known as chronic kidney failure, occurs when another disease damages the organs and leaves them unable to properly filter waste.
These include diabetes, high blood pressure, urinary blockages, and recurrent infections, according to the Mayo Clinic.
When kidney disease progresses, the best treatment is a kidney transplant, although many patients wait on a transplant list for years and often become too sick to have surgery.
Instead, patients undergo dialysis, which involves a machine removing waste from the blood when the kidneys can no longer do so.
“End-stage renal disease is quite mild,” Ms. McFadden said.
‘You have some sort of long-standing chronic illness, so that’s not good. You’ve had to be on dialysis three days a week for 10 years, so it’s a long road and it can be difficult.’
But the ending is quite nice. You just stop dialysis, go to sleep and then die in seven days.’
“People say, ‘I just want to fall asleep and die,’ and that’s what happens with kidney disease.”
Several commenters agreed.
Myfreshstart said: ‘I lost my father to end-stage kidney disease. It was a calm and beautiful step. Nothing is left unsaid and MUCH LOVE.’
And Miharty wrote: ‘My dad passed away due to late stage kidney disease. He stopped dialysis when he was ready to leave. We all have to say goodbye on his terms. he was already done.’
