Palliative drugs are used to do what?

• A. Improve quality of life but not cure
• B. Cure disease
• C. Prevent disease
• D. Diagnose disease

Answer: (A)

Palliative drugs are used to relieve distressing symptoms and improve comfort for people with serious illness, focusing on quality of life rather than curing the disease. They target pain, nausea, shortness of breath, anxiety, sleep issues, and other symptoms to help a person feel better and function as well as possible, even when the illness can’t be cured. They can be used alongside disease-directed treatments, but their purpose is symptom relief and comfort, not eliminating the disease itself. Preventing disease or diagnosing it involve different processes—prevention aims to stop illness from occurring, and diagnosis involves identifying what is wrong. So the primary role of palliative medications is to improve quality of life by alleviating symptoms.