What is Chronic Disease?
Have you ever looked at any diseased person who has been showing symptoms for a long time and keeps visiting doctors regularly? Do you also wonder why their illness lasted for so long? If the answer to any of these questions is yes then you are thinking in the right direction. These diseases are different from your regular flu or fever. But how? Let’s see.
Diseases can be classified into two broad categories, namely chronic diseases and acute diseases. Before discussing chronic diseases and poor health associated with them, let’s take a slight idea of acute diseases. Acute disease is a disorder that has recently onset and lasts for a short time and accompanies distinct symptoms. Strep throat and appendicitis are examples of acute diseases. Chronic diseases or chronic illnesses are diseases that occur gradually and may last for a long time, even for a lifetime. It leads to hampering of the organ and organ system thereby affecting the lifestyle and quality of life. Arthritis, Asthma, COPD and Diabetes are some of the chronic diseases examples.
A List of Examples for Chronic Diseases
Below are a few more chronic illness examples:
AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Disease)
Amputation
Allergies to food and environmental irritants
Asthma
Cancer
Colitis
Cystic fibrosis
Hearing loss
Heart disease
Hepatitis
Lung disorders
Irritable bowel syndrome
Kidney disease
Blindness
Stroke
Crohn’s disease
Spinal Cord injury
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What Are the Symptoms of Chronic Diseases?
Chronic disease can have severe side effects on the body of a patient and some of the common symptoms associated with various chronic diseases are as follows:
Weakening fatigue
Anxiety, hopelessness and depressed mind
The urge of frequently urinating
Loss of hunger or appetite
Intolerable body pain
Bruises or wounds all over the body
High Blood Pressure
High Sugar Levels
Abnormality in blood report
Risk Factors for Chronic Diseases
Non - Modifiable Risk Factors: These are the risk factors associated with hereditary, age, gender and age. These are not because of the choices of a person and the risk factors are non-modifiable or not alterable. Some of the examples due to these risks include hypertension, diabetes and coronary heart disease.
Behavioural Risk Factors: These are the risk factors associated with numerous lifestyle habits that increase the probability of chronic diseases. Some of these risk factors are obesity or overweight, physical inactivity, unprotected sex habits and high alcohol consumption.
Cultural and Environmental Risk Factors: These are the risk factors associated with societal class structure, changes in purchasing behaviour, access to and level of education and wealth of the local population. Some of these factors include exposure to hazardous materials such as air/water/soil/food, climate change, occupational hazard, ionizing radiation and viruses.
Causes of Chronic Diseases
Various causes of chronic diseases are associated with the above risk factors; some causes of chronic diseases related to these risk factors include:
Unhealthy diet, excessive smoking, tobacco use and physical inactivity (Associated with Behavioural Risk factors).
Age and hereditary (Non-modifiable risk factors).
Globalisation, population ageing and urbanization (Cultural, political and environmental factors).
Raised blood pressure, high blood pressure, abnormal blood lipids and overweight (intermediate risk factors).
Prevention of Chronic Diseases
Certain precautionary measures and good lifestyle habits help in preventing chronic diseases. Chronic diseases can be controlled and certain risk factors can be eliminated if we follow healthy eating habits, quit smoking, get regular physical exercises or yoga, avoid drinking too much alcohol, control body weight, intake deep night sleep and be aware of family history. It is often difficult for people to transform their regular habits and change their lifestyle, however, if we strive to gradually replace bad habits with healthy habits such as daily physical activity, less consumption of junk food and unsuitable diet control negativities, having the strength to deal with treatments and have the confidence to fight against chronic situations.
How are Chronic Diseases and Poor Health Related?
We are now well aware of chronic disease, its causes, symptoms and examples. Let us now understand poor health and how both are related to each other. Poor health is a situation where a person is unable to perform physically, socially or mentally what he or she is required to do. Chronic diseases are highly effective to result in the poor health of a person since it is associated with abnormal functioning of various organs in the body. Various health issues become a part of a person's daily life due to chronic diseases and many of these are non-curable, only manageable. Many chronic diseases are fatal and some are highly expensive to cure. Therefore, a healthy diet and regular exercise is a must for people of all ages. This will not only prevent chronic diseases but make you all-time healthy, hearty and keep diseases at bay. As a result, people will have good health instead of poor health.
Conclusion
Reading this topic teaches us about how serious the problem of chronic diseases is and why it is a matter of concern worldwide. You have also learnt about the factors which are majorly responsible for its wide propagation. After reading this topic we also learnt how it can be prevented and how they are related to poor health. But more than anything, studying this topic teaches us how alarming the situation is and how important it is for us to focus on health.
To read more such topics on biology you can refer to Vedantu’s website. You can also read about types of diseases from Vedantu's website. For the NEET the topic of Human Health and Disease is very important.
FAQs on Chronic Diseases and Poor Health
1. How is Poor Health Initiated with Chronic Diseases?
Chronic diseases are disorders that exist for a longer time and even for lifetime as compared to the acute diseases which are short-termed. As a result, health issues start and a person’s health deteriorates with time. He or she becomes unable to perform their day to day tasks well in terms of physical, social or mental wellness. This is exactly what poor health is.
2. State Some Examples of Chronic Diseases.
Some of the examples of chronic diseases include asthma, arthritis, AIDS, cancer, COPD, Diabetes, Colitis, irritable bowel syndrome and food or environmental allergies.
3. Are Chronic Diseases More Risky than Acute Diseases?
Yes, chronic diseases are there for a longer time in the bodies and are often incurable, just manageable. Whereas acute diseases are there for a short time and often get cured quickly. However, if acute diseases are not taken seriously, these may turn into chronic diseases. So, it is always advised to do a routine checkup and get ensured of your health in advance so that one can take precautions and follow healthy lifestyle choices.
4. What are the Examples of Acute Diseases?
Some of the examples of acute diseases include sore throat, appendicitis, a broken bone, bronchitis, pneumonia, heart attack, flu, and the common cold.
5. What are Chronic Diseases and Poor Health?
Chronic Diseases and Poor Health is a very important topic in the biology syllabus. It talks about chronological diseases and how it leads to poor health and well-being. This topic also covers a list of chronological diseases, their symptoms, factors of risks, causes which lead to them, and how one can prevent from falling a victim to a chronological disease. In simple words, a chronological disease can be defined as conditions lasting for over a year and requiring constant medical assistance and they also affect your daily life and functioning.
6. What diseases have been mentioned in Chronic Diseases and Poor Health?
One can mention a number of chronic diseases. Here Vedantu has listed around 17 chronic diseases. This includes diseases such as AIDS, Diabetes, Asthma, Cancer, Lung Disease, hepatitis, Kidney diseases, etc. You need not remember each of them. You only need to be in a position where you can identify and classify a given disease as a chronic one. You can remember the names of 5 chronic diseases to state them as examples. It is more important for you to know the characteristics of chronic diseases in general and not specifically about individual diseases.
7. What factors are involved in Chronic Diseases and Poor Health?
Chronic Diseases and Poor Health come with a lot of associated risk factors that you are expected to know as a student.
All the risk factors are categorized into three:
Non-Modifiable Risk Factors: These are factors that are present inherently in the patient. They cannot be modified or altered.
Behavioral Risk Factors: These are the factors that are associated with lifestyle patterns. This can include an unhealthy diet, high alcohol consumption, etc.
Cultural and Environmental Risk Factors: These are factors associated with the societal structure, level of education, gender biases, etc.
8. How useful are Chronic Diseases and Poor Health for students?
The topic of Chronic Diseases and Poor Health is of very high importance for students studying biology. Studying this topic will not help you score excellent marks but it will also make you an informed and aware citizen of society. You will come across many people suffering through these problems, this topic will guide you on how to help them. In the prevention part, you will also learn how such chronic diseases can be avoided. This topic should not be studied from an exam perspective only rather go beyond these horizons and focus on becoming an aware citizen.
9. Are Chronic Diseases and Poor Health available for free on Vedantu’s website?
Yes, Chronic Diseases and Poor Health is available for free on Vedantu's website. You can find the entire topic on Vedantu’s website in the form of web content. Thus, you need not sign in or download the information. You can simply visit the webpage and read it directly. We suggest you revise this topic multiple times from the website to make sure you remember it thoroughly for the exams. Also, you can refer to Vedantu’s website for other topics of biology.
