Health Library

What's the most sensitive part of your body? Are women less sensitive to pain than men? Does everyone feel pain? Get answers to these and other questions by taking the pain quiz.

Supportive, or palliative, care is care aimed at comfort of the person versus cure and treatment.

Palliative care can be provided in the hospital, at home, or in a setting specializing in such care. It may be long-term over several years, or short-term, lasting days or weeks. Palliative care may include chemotherapy or radiation for pain control.

The biggest problem with palliative care is that many people are referred for care too late. By starting this type of care early, and by using the right type of pain management, nearly all pain problems can be relieved or reduced.

Palliative care focuses on improving a patient's quality of life by improving the symptoms of his or her illness, such as pain, shortness of breath, and difficulty sleeping. It's used with a variety of ailments, including cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney failure, or congestive heart failure.