求翻译：以前只要一个人无法进食，生命就难以维持，而呼吸、心跳停止，就算死亡；残疾人很难终其天年。现在人体的许多功能都可以用人工的方法维持；同时，由于一些治疗措施的进步，许多不治之症的结局可以变得相当拖沓。是什么意思？

As long as a person cannot eat before, life is difficult to maintain, and breathing, heartbeat, even death hard to the end of its natural term for persons with disabilities. Many features of the human body can now use artificial means to maintain and, because some of the treatment measures of progress, many incurable outcomes can become quite affectionate.