Palliative treatments.
These are designed to reduce the painful and other unpleasant effects of incurable
diseases. They are also used during the treatment of curable diseases and injuries.
A most striking example is the development and use of the many treatments we now
have for relieving pain. For instance, pain-relieving drugs, and other methods,
can completely remove the pain or can very markedly reduce it in cancer patients.
They can also provide relief after surgical operations used to help cure some
diseases (e.g., removal of cancerous lungs) or other health problems (e.g., removal
of appendix in cases of appendicitis) and to repair injuries like those caused
by car accidents.