People in the advanced stages of dementia often have difficulty eating and lose weight. Should a PEG tube be inserted?
From a medical perspective PEG tube feeding has not been shown to prolong life, prevent pneumonia, improve quality of life or speed healing of pressure ulcers. Making a person nil-by-mouth eliminates the enjoyment of food. The use of physical restraint to prevent the person removing the tube further reduces quality of life. There are however other factors that come into consideration in making this decision.