Chronic Diseases

What is Chronic Disease?

Chronic health conditions or chronic diseases can be explained as human health conditions that are persistent or long-lasting in their effects. They could also be diseases that manifest themselves with time. If the course of any disease is more than three months to over a year, the term chronic is used.

Examples of Chronic Conditions in Children

Chronic illness in children can account for 10-30% of the cases, depending on the criteria. These conditions can be severe enough to cause limitations in usual or day-to-day activities. Illnesses can include asthma, congenital heart disease, cystic fibrosis, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, diabetes mellitus and depression. Chronic physical disabilities can include hearing impairments or visual impairments, meningomyelocele, cerebral palsy, and loss of limb function.

Diseases of children can be particularly debilitating and worrying, both for the child as well as the family. Children with chronic health conditions may show limitations in inactivity, abnormal growth and development, frequent pain or discomfort and comparatively more hospitalizations, outpatient visits as well as medical treatments. When concerning severe disabilities, children might be left out of school and peer activities.

Coordinated care is of utmost importance when concerning chronic ailments. While a coordinator can be a parent, appropriate help must also be provided to the parent in question. Irrespective of who is the coordinator, families and children should be part of the process. Based on how well a family is doing economically, the availability of healthcare facilities might also differ. Keeping this entire mind, appropriate planning needs to be done.