chronic disease

definition

A chronic disease is a disease that affects you longer period impaired health or lifelong will be present. The disease can be looked after and treated by a doctor and usually has to, but it cannot be cured. Some diseases are described as chronic from the time of diagnosis because, according to the current state of research, the cause of the disease cannot yet be treated. These are often congenital diseases. Other diseases only become chronic as they progress.

If a disease does not heal from an acute condition, for example due to inadequate treatment or if the treatment does not respond to a chronic process, this is also known as a chronic disease. For example, an acute hepatitis (Inflammation of the liver), develop into chronic hepatitis. Long-standing pain can also result in a chronic pain syndrome pass over. The period from which one speaks of a chronic illness differs from clinical picture to clinical picture. However, it is often defined that an acute course of the disease turns into a chronic course after 14 days. Sometimes, however, four or six weeks are drawn as a limit.

Chronic diseases include a colorful picture of diseases. A chronic illness can, for example, be organic illnesses such as heart failure, diabetes, chronic respiratory illnesses, tumor diseases, mental illnesses such as depression or a congenital genetic illness. Alcohol addiction is also one of the chronic diseases.

Read more on this topic at: Chronically ill

Overview of chronic diseases in Germany

In Germany, the most common chronic diseases include diseases related to the cardiovascular system. This is due to various risk factors such as Smoke, Obesity, poor diet and lack of physical activity. The most common chronic disease in Germany is high blood pressure to call. Followed by Lipid metabolism disorders, such as increased Cholesterol levels. Both diseases increase your risk Heart attack.

Both diseases are followed by chronic back pain, due to different causes. Back pain is the most common reason for consultation with orthopedic surgeons and tends to become chronic. In place four and five of the ten most common chronic diseases in Germany, there are again two diseases that have an impact on the cardiovascular system, namely type 2 diabetes (old-age sugar) and coronary heart disease (CHD). In coronary heart disease, various risk factors caused by vascular deposits lead to a narrowing of the coronary arteries, so that the heart cannot be supplied with oxygen and works worse. This can also lead to a heart attack.

Enlargement of the thyroid gland is another common chronic disease. It should not be forgotten that obesity is a chronic disease and can lead to other chronic diseases. In addition to cardiovascular disorders, respiratory diseases also play a major role. The most common chronic respiratory diseases are asthma and COPD (= chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). COPD is caused by a high level of chronic nicotine consumption. It does not disappear again even after you stop using nicotine.

Liver disease is also one of the most common chronic diseases; these are often caused by excessive alcohol consumption or a high-fat diet. Mental illnesses should not be forgotten in the case of chronic illnesses. Above all, depression plays a major role. The disease has increased dramatically over the past few years. It is assumed that the number of depression will increase in the next few years and that cardiovascular diseases will be pushed out of the front ranks. Dementia and Parkinson's are also among the chronic diseases that occur frequently in Germany.

statistics

Statistical surveys on chronic diseases have been collected for around 40 years. It is believed to be scarce 20% of all Germans suffer from a chronic illness. Infectious diseases used to be the number one cause of death, but today most people die of chronic illness. A percentage of 80% is assumed. Studies have shown that women suffer from chronic illnesses more often on average.This effect increases especially with increasing age. Over 65 years of age, around half of all men are chronically ill and around 60% of women. In about 50% of all cases, people die as a result of cardiovascular disease. You make the most common cause of death in Germany. 25% die of a tumor disease. Tumor diseases are the third most common cause of death. In second place is stroke as the cause of death, which usually also arises from an underlying disease and from which around a third of patients die immediately.

Chronic illness in childhood

Around five to ten percent of all children and adolescents in Germany suffer from a chronic illness. Strictly speaking, the relatively harmless ones also belong Allergies to chronic diseases. Statistics show that around every third school child suffers from an allergy. If a chronic disease already occurs in childhood, it is more often a congenital disease or a disease with a genetic component.

The most common chronic illness in childhood is that bronchial asthma. A far more drastic disease of the respiratory tract in childhood is Cystic fibrosis (also: cystic fibrosis). This is a congenital disease that is associated with a shortened life expectancy. The skin is often affected by a chronic disease in childhood. Above all, the disease is the Neurodermatitis to call. A very itchy rash develops, especially in the elbows and hollows of the knees. The face is also often affected. The disease worsens when children are stressed and often extends into adulthood.

Sugar disease is more typical for older people, but it is the Type 1 the disease, it occurs in childhood to adolescence. At the beginning, the children usually stand out because they have to drink a lot, have to pass a lot of urine and are increasingly tired and exhausted in order to compensate for the existing high sugar level. If the disease is diagnosed, the children must pay attention to their diet and regularly the missing hormone insulin injections, which is usually responsible for lowering the sugar level.

About one percent of all children come with one congenital heart defects to the world who has to be operated on shortly after birth. In some cases, the error can be completely eliminated so that the children are no longer restricted in their lives. Often, however, the result of the heart defect is that the children are more limited in terms of physical performance throughout their lives. Epileptic diseases can also occur in childhood and are counted among the chronic diseases. Also count among the chronic diseases in children Behavioral problemssuch as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as learning difficulties such as Dyslexia (Weak reading and spelling). It is estimated that almost five percent of all children are affected by ADHD.

All chronic diseases in childhood cannot be listed in this context, as there would simply be too many. In some cases, these are also very rare congenital diseases.

Chronic respiratory disease

If you think of chronic respiratory diseases, there are often three main diseases: Cystic fibrosis, bronchial asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Cystic fibrosis is a congenital disease that occurs due to the nature of the inheritance mostly boys concerns. There are several forms of cystic fibrosis. Recently there has been an approach that one form of cystic fibrosis can be cured, but unfortunately this is not the most common form by far. About one in 3,000 newborns is born with cystic fibrosis. Due to a genetic mutation, the gland secretion becomes significantly thicker, which restricts many physical processes. People often suffer from serious respiratory diseases, such as pneumonia. In addition to the airways, the pancreas is particularly affected. Also one infertility results from the disease. The average life expectancy is now around 40 years.

A bronchial asthma is often allergic and temporarily leads to mild to severe shortness of breath, depending on the severity. The disease occurs seizure so that those affected are not permanently restricted. When the attack is over, breathing can resume normally. Asthma usually occurs in childhood. If the attack cannot be interrupted in time by an asthma spray, it can also lead to one life threatening condition come.

In the COPD In contrast to cystic fibrosis and asthma, it is a disease that only occurs in the occurs in advanced age. Colloquially, the disease is also known as Smoker's lung, because it almost always occurs with a high and long-lasting nicotine consumption. In contrast to asthma, the symptoms do not recede and the disease progresses with continued nicotine consumption, so that under certain circumstances there may be a very severe restriction in breathing and thus in resilience.

Of course there are also other chronic respiratory diseases. However, these three diseases are by far the most common diseases (especially asthma and COPD), as well as the best known among the population. I would also like to mention chronic respiratory diseases Chronic bronchitis, as well as a Tuberculosis diseasewhich, if therapy is unsuccessful or absent, often turns into a chronic condition.