33 Meditations on Death: Notes from the Wrong End of Medicine

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David Jarrett's 33 Meditations, the fruit of forty years of professional experience with people at the end of their lives, is not only timely and important, but hugely enjoyable. It is immensely readable and is both funny and poignant even though it covers very difficult and often avoided subjects; namely the fact that we all die, that old age can be grim and that death is not always the worst outcome. Too much medicine and too little helping people and their families gain a realistic vision of old age and dying. It is a bitter-sweet reflection of a life well lived but one that is courageous enough to face the realities of life and the human condition. We all need to have conversation about what we want in the end and keep the conversation going with your family.

Brilliant - a grimly humourous yet humane account of the realities of growing old in the modern age. Jarrett explains how we can ensure that our last years are comfortable and not a burden to us, the health care system and, most importantly, our loved ones. I read this book over the course of one day and now I am passing it on to friends to read and discuss. Bursting with empathy, common sense and humour, would that we could all be so fortunate as to have the author at our bedside when the time comes.David Jarrett’s 33 Meditations, the fruit of forty years of professional experience with people at the end of their lives, is not only timely and important, but hugely enjoyable. It presents a cogent argument for an alternative approach to the end of life from the one that has seen us sacrifice quality of years for quantity. David Jarrett has been a doctor for forty years, thirty of which as an NHS consultant in geriatric and stroke medicine. We are all going to die, at some stage, and decisions we make will inform our declining years - from 25 years on.

This is reflected less in his observations - which are more evenhanded - than in his sweeping asides and unfortunately these do intrude given the subject matter of what is otherwise a thoughtful and interesting book about dying.Dr David Jarrett draws on family stories and case histories from his thirty years of treating the old, demented and frail to try to find his own understanding of the end. Anything we prepare for is so much easier to handle than becoming overwhelmed due to our lack of tools to sort things out clearly. I want everyone at the age of seventy to discuss and document what medical interventions they would be willing to accept over their next decade or so of life.

A refrain throughout the book is: "Just because a treatment can be given does not mean it should be given.

I am happy to talk on end of life decisions in the elderly, dementia prevention, the history of stroke disease, biological ageing or other topics covered in 33 Meditation on Death. A mixture of reminiscences drawn from the author's family life and a long medical career and reflections on how to deal with death and dying. I am interested in how modern medicine seems to have lost its way especially with excessive investigation and treatment of the very frail and elderly close to the end of their natural lives. I would highly recommend reading it and then discussing its contents with family members and your GP. This book will be helpful to anyone with ageing parents or people like myself who are old but not yet elderly.