Whatever the cause, death can ultimately seem like everything is the same.
However, there may be ‘better’ ways to do this, according to an end-of-care expert.
Julie McFadden, a hospice nurse in California, revealed on a podcast, “For me, there are a few diseases that are the worst.”
Julie McFadden, a hospice nurse in California, revealed the two ‘worst’ diseases you can die from, along with the best
The conditions Mrs McFadden put on her list of ‘worst’ conditions to die from because they are slow-moving and painful, leading to loss of independence
The first cause she mentioned was ALS (amyotrophic lateral schlerosis), 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 usually unbearably cruel.
The nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movements gradually deteriorate and over time the muscles stop functioning, including eventually the muscles responsible for breathing.
When this happens, patients often suffocate to death.
“I think ALS is one of the worst,” Ms. McFadden said in a TikTok clip from the Problem solved podcast. ‘ALS is really bad. If I ever got ALS, I think I would get medical help and die, just like I would probably start taking drugs to end my life.”
‘I just wouldn’t want to do it. That’s a tough one.’
The CDC estimates there are about 5,000 new cases per year. It is most common in adults aged 55 to 75, although patients may be as young as their 20s.
Ms McFadden said while no cause of death should be taken lightly, some causes can be more devastating than others, including ALS and the brain cancer glioblastoma.
Commenters on TikTok shared Ms McFadden’s sentiment.
User Jessica Weiser said, “I knew she was going to say ALS. I lost my father, the cruelest thing I have ever experienced.’
‘My brother-in-law just passed away last year from ALS. Terrible disease,” said a commenter named JZ.
And Melissa Perfilio noted, “My grandma has ALS.”
‘It’s the worst to see her deteriorate. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.’
Ms. McFadden also pointed to glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer that killed Senator 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 cancer each year and 10,000 will die.
Only one in fifteen patients is expected to survive after five years.
‘Glioblastomas are quite tough, they are brain tumors. It usually happens to young people, and it’s just hard because it’s your brain, and your brain does a lot of things,” Ms McFadden said.
“If there are tumors there, things will be ruined.”
NBTS states that it only takes months for many patients to lose their independence and become unable to work, drive and perform other basic functions.
Ms McFadden suggested that the muscle-wasting disease ALS, which killed Stephen Hawking in 2018, is so devastating that she would seek medically assisted suicide if she were diagnosed. Meanwhile, she noted that end-stage kidney disease is “mild” in comparison
The disease is largely resistant to most treatments and can lead to 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 ‘easier’ ways to die.
Chronic kidney disease, also known as chronic kidney failure, occurs when another disease damages the organs and prevents them from filtering waste properly.
These include diabetes, high blood pressure, urinary obstructions and recurring infections, according to the Mayo Clinic.
When kidney disease progresses, a kidney transplant is the best treatment, although many patients wait years on a transplant list and often become too sick for surgery.
Instead, patients undergo dialysis, in which a machine removes waste products from the blood when the kidneys can no longer do so.
“End-stage kidney disease is quite mild,” Ms McFadden said.
‘You have a long-standing chronic illness, so that’s not good. You have had to undergo dialysis three days a week for ten years, so that is a long journey and sometimes difficult.’
‘But the ending of it is quite beautiful. You just stop dialysis, go to sleep and then you die within seven days.”
“People say, ‘I just want to fall asleep and die,’ and it’s the same with kidney disease.”
Several commentators agreed.
Myfreshstart said: “I lost my father to end stage kidney disease. It was a peaceful, beautiful passage. Nothing is left unsaid and SO MUCH LOVE.”
And Miharty wrote: “My father died of late-stage kidney disease. he stopped dialysis when he was ready to go. we all have to say goodbye on his terms. he was ready.’