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Negative views have become prevalent in the United States and Europe over the use of feeding tubes inserted through an abdominal incision in terminal dementia patients, based on advanced research on the procedure, according to Kaoruko Aita, a special-appointment researcher at the University of Tokyo.

The US-based Alzheimer's Association said in its guidelines there is no medical evidence to show the procedure benefits patients who cannot swallow food due to advanced Alzheimer's disease.

The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism argues there is no medical evidence the procedure reduces the occurrence of aspiration pneumonia or bedsores, improving patients' quality of life.

Aita said, "Like terminal cancer patients, terminal dementia patients feel less pain when they are given little water and nourishment."

"In the United Sates, it's accepted that an artificial nutrient supply has no effect on terminal dementia patients," Aita added. She added, however, that some care facilities use the procedure.

The Japanese Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry decided in 2007 on guidelines to determine treatment for terminal patients. The move came following the deaths of terminal cancer patients at a hospital in Toyama Prefecture after doctors removed them from artificial respirators.

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