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Palliative Care in Polish Patients with Multiple Sclerosis
Jozef A. Opara1,3*, Waldemar Brola2and Jaroslaw Szczygiel31Department of Physical Education, Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education, Katowice, Poland
2Department of Neurology, Specialist Hospital in Konskie, Poland
3Repty Rehab Centre in Tarnowskie Góry, Poland
- *Corresponding Author:
- Jozef A. Opara
MD, PhD, Department of Physical Education
Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education in Katowice
Poland
Tel: +48-32-2075301
Fax: 32-2511097
E-mail: jozefopara@wp.pl
Received date: December 11, 2015 Accepted date: January 20, 2016 Published date: January 23, 2016
Citation:Opara JA, Brola W, Szczygiel J (2016) Palliative Care in Polish Patients with Multiple Sclerosis. J Palliat Care Med 6:245. doi:10.4172/2165-7386.1000245
Copyright: © 2016 Opara JA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis is a progressive disease of the central nervous system with unknown aetiology. It most frequently affects young adults and inevitably leads to disability. Despite significantly progressing development of immunomodulatory treatment, access to which in Poland is limited, the number of patients requiring continuous care and being unable to live independently is constantly growing. The specificity of MS symptoms results from damage of almost all functional systems of the nervous system. The physical, mental, cognitive and psychosocial consequences associated with the symptoms significantly decrease the patients' quality of life. Patients with advanced stage of multiple sclerosis actually qualify for palliative care, which in Poland is reserved mainly for oncological patients and rarely for other groups of patients. The Polish legal system does not provide guaranteed benefits for people with MS requiring palliative and hospice care. Therefore, it is necessary to take action aimed at supporting the most disabled patients who are deprived of the modifying treatment and are only left to symptomatic treatment.
