Palliative care and accompaniment for neuromuscular diseases

Neuromuscular diseases are often incurable. They induce progressively an important or total loss of autonomy for the patient. These diseases confront with complex situations at the end of life. A common coverage of the patient's symptoms by the specialized teams and the palliative care team is justified, for the authors, because of the possible contributions in the medical, ethical and human field for the benefit of the patient and his entourage. This work presents practical methods of this collaboration with the idea of a caring and accompanying medicine whose aim first is to take care and not only to cure. This collaboration may be regarded as an invaluable tool allowing the sensitizing of the society for the reality of neuromuscular or neurodegenerative diseases and multihandicaps. (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.