Gwen Adshead Medical knowledge changes swiftly, and technological changes make new andexpensive investigations and treatments possible that were only theoretical a few years ago. Life has been extended in length, but not in quality, and the debatesabout end-of-life decisions show us how much the notion of a“good life”is boundup with the absence of disease, illness and suffering.

医学知识瞬息万变，技术变革使得新的、昂贵的研究和治疗成为可能，而这些在几年前还只是理论上的。生命的长度有所延长，但质