[lily.]

Originally Posted by Z

Clive James has had a terminal illness for years and is still going strong, I'm glad we scrapped that rule because there were a lot of grey areas - like is Alzheimer's considered terminal or not?

This tbh. There were a few complications from the terminal illness rule. If someone was diagnosed before the end of the year, but it never reached the media til January, how could we be sure if the person who nominated them knew or not?

Also, with regard to Alzheimer's ..

Is Alzheimer’s disease a terminal illness?
The American Medical Association (AMA) published a book in 2000: Diagnosis, Management and Treatment of Dementia: A Practical Guide for Primary Care Physicians. In this book, the AMA states: “Many physicians are used to thinking of cancer, congestive heart failure, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as conditions for which palliative care and hospice referral may be appropriate; most do not think about dementia in the same way.” However, the AMA goes on to state: “Alzheimer’s disease and other progressive dementias are life-altering and eventually fatal conditions for which curative therapy is not available. Thinking of dementia as a terminal illness from which people are dying over years instead of months allows one to focus explicitly and aggressively on a palliative care plan.” When a person with Alzheimer’s disease enters the later stages, especially after the ability to walk independently is lost, the average life expectancy is about one year. Of those persons who also suffer from fever or infection, or those who have suffered a hip fracture, more than half will have died within six months.

SOURCE