Chronic condition

Not to be confused with Chronic toxicity.

A chronic condition (also known as chronic disease or chronic illness) is a health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. The term chronic is often applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months. Common chronic diseases include diabetes, functional gastrointestinal disorder, eczema, arthritis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, autoimmune diseases, genetic disorders and some viral diseases such as hepatitis C and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. An illness which is lifelong because it ends in death is a terminal illness. It is possible and not unexpected for an illness to change in definition from terminal to chronic. Diabetes and HIV for example were once terminal yet are now considered chronic due to the availability of insulin for diabetics and daily drug treatment for individuals with HIV which allow these individuals to live while managing symptoms.

In medicine, chronic conditions are distinguished from those that are acute. An acute condition typically affects one portion of the body and responds to treatment. A chronic condition, on the other hand, usually affects multiple areas of the body, is not fully responsive to treatment, and persists for an extended period of time.

Chronic conditions may have periods of remission or relapse where the disease temporarily goes away, or subsequently reappears. Periods of remission and relapse are commonly discussed when referring to substance abuse disorders which some consider to fall under the category of chronic condition.

Chronic conditions are often associated with non-communicable diseases which are distinguished by their non-infectious causes. Some chronic conditions though, are caused by transmissible infections such as HIV/AIDS.

63% of all deaths worldwide are from chronic conditions. Chronic diseases constitute a major cause of mortality, and the World Health Organization (WHO) attributes 38 million deaths a year to non-communicable diseases. In the United States approximately 40% of adults have at least two chronic conditions. Living with two or more chronic conditions is referred to as multimorbidity.

Advocacy and research organizations

In Europe, the European Chronic Disease Alliance was formed in 2011, which represents over 100,000 healthcare workers.

In the United States, there are a number of nonprofits focused on chronic conditions, including entities focused on specific diseases such as the American Diabetes Association, Alzheimer's Association, or Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. There are also broader groups focused on advocacy or research into chronic illness in general, such as the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, the Chronic Disease Coalition which arose in Oregon in 2015, and the Chronic Policy Care Alliance.

See also

• Chronic care management
• Chronic disease in China

Further reading

• Berkowitz A (2015). Tender Points. Oakland, California: Timeless Infinite Light. ISBN 978-1-937421-15-1.
• Caron D. The Nearness of Others: Searching for Tact and Contact in the Age of HIV. University of Minnesota Press. OCLC 943203014.
• Charmaz K (1991). Good days, bad days: the self in chronic illness and time. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-1711-7.
• Charon R (2008). Narrative medicine: honoring the stories of illness (First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback ed.). Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-534022-8.
• Conway K (2013). Beyond Words: Illness and the Limits of Expression. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 978-0-8263-5324-5.
• Conway K (1997). Ordinary life: a memoir of illness. New York: W. H. Freeman Press. ISBN 978-0-7167-3036-1.
• Ellis C (2018). Final Negotiations: A Story of Love, Loss, and Chronic Illness (Revised and expanded ed.). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-4399-1715-2.
• Frank AW (2013). The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness, and Ethics (Second ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-00497-6.
• Heshusius L, Fishman SM (2009-08-20). Inside Chronic Pain: An Intimate and Critical Account. The Culture and Politics of Health Care Work. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-4796-9.
• Kroll-Smith S, Floyd HH (1997). Bodies in Protest: Environmental Illness and the Struggle Over Medical Knowledge. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-4752-0. JSTOR j.ctt9qg6hq.
• Sontag S. Illness as Metaphor. Susan Sontag Foundation.
• Sontag S. Regarding the Pain of Others. Susan Sontag Foundation.

External links

• Public Health Agency of Canada: Chronic Disease
• World Health Organization: Chronic Disease and Health Promotion