Difficult choices as death nears. As the changes described in this article develop in the final days or hours of a progressive terminal illness, difficult choices may arise. There may be questions about whether to provide food and fluids, receive blood transfusions, or treat infections.
The use of mercury in thermometers dates back hundreds of years. It was widely used because it reliably expands and contracts with changes in temperatures. It is highly poisonous, however, and can enter the body through the respiratory or digestive tracts, or directly through the skin.
Mercury is a silvery-white metal element that is liquid at ordinary room temperature; it has no taste or smell. It occurs as metallic mercury (Hg), as cinnabar (HgS) and in perhaps 25 other in organic mineral compounds. The elemental form (Hg) vaporizes at any temperature down to almost 40Â° below zero. The vapor also has no taste or smell. The specific gravity of mercury is 13.546; therefore, it is heavier than lead and, like lead and other heavy metals, it is a potent poison. Exposure to metallic mercury or mercury compounds, even in small quantities over a period of time, can cause severe poisoning.