Through my experiences recently, I have found out that terminally ill patient’s dehydration can actually be an aid to a comfortable peaceful death. Why are we not told this? Is the medical profession scared of this knowledge escaping, knowledge that could be of benefit to kin in their understanding of the process? I never knew about the possible detrimental side effects of hydration in a patient at near end of life. Natural instinct is “water equals life”. But water kills too! Re-hydration can result in many negative outcomes as you will know, cellular break-down, fluid build up in lungs...even bed sores due to skin hydration. It seems to be an emotive issue that needs to be talked about more widely.