Acute and Chronic Diseases

Before talking about disease we all should know about health, as it can be defined as a condition when the body is free from all diseases and infections. But according to the World health organisation definition of health is completely different, as per W.H.O health is not only the absence of disease or illness. It is a state of an active and energetic condition including the physical, mental, and social well being. For maintaining good health we all should maintain a healthy lifestyle with a proper balanced diet. 

Disease

When any abnormal factor starts affecting our body, then we termed them disease. Further, it is differentiated into two types:

A. Acute disease: Disease which occurs suddenly and lasts a short time, often only a few days or weeks.

B. Chronic disease: Disease which develops slowly and may deteriorate your condition with time and an extended period of time may be months or years.

Acute Disease: 

A disease which occurs suddenly and lasts only a few days is termed as acute disease. One of the most common examples of acute disease is the common cold and we can treat such diseases with medical treatments or my home made remedies. But it can, if ignored, turn into chronic disease. This disease can occur all over the body. Examples: the first asthma attack is acute which later turns chronic. Strep throat, broken bone, appendicitis, influenza, pneumonia, etc. are some of the acute diseases.

Causes and Symptoms of Acute Disease

Acute disease is mainly caused by a virus or an infection, but it can also occur by an injury from fall or automobile accidents and many more. It can also occur by misuse of drugs of medication. 

As acute disease occurs in a very short interval, so it is accompanied by certain specific symptoms also. Some of the common symptoms of acute disease are discussed below:

1. Acute illnesses like common cold show symptoms like fever, headache, and running nose. 

2. A broken bone that might result from a fall must be treated by a doctor and will heal in time.

Example of Common Acute Disease

• Asthma attack

• Broken bone

• Bronchitis

• Burn

• Common cold

• Flu

• Heart attack

• Pneumonia

• Respiratory infection

• Strep throat

Chronic Disease:

The disease which occurs over a time and lasts for a longer duration sometimes it continues till lifetime, this is termed as chronic disease. Conditions in which disease lasts for more than three year is termed as chronic disease. In this disease, in its early stage symptoms are very mild as it progresses slowly and gradually and keeps damaging our body. Sometimes it is life threatening too. There are so many life threatening chronic diseases, they are:  Elephantiasis, Hepatitis C, HIV, arthritis, diabetes mellitus. All these chronic diseases occur due to various factors like age, gender, an unhealthy lifestyle, etc. It may be both curable and not curable, and it cannot be prevented by vaccines as well. 

Causes and Symptoms of Chronic Disease

• Some of the major cause of chronic disease are listed below:

• Unhealthy diet

• Excessive energy intake

• No physical activity

• Use of tobacco

• Excessive smoking and intake of alcohol

• Heredity

• Increased glucose levels and blood pressure

• Some of the common symptoms of chronic disease are: pain, fatigue, and mood disorders. 

Prevention against Chronic Disease

Some of the preventive measure which we can take against chronic disease are:

A. We all should avoid smoking, alcohol and tobacco. By doing this we can prevent cancer.

B. We all know obesity is the major cause of many diseases. By controlling body weight we can prevent several harmful diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cancers of kidney, breast, colon, endometrium, etc.

C. By doing daily physical workout helps in reducing body weight and prevents a number of diseases.

D. By taking a healthy diet we can prevent ourselves from dangerous diseases.