Chronic diseases are considered non-communicable, last a very long time, are progressive in nature or are permanent. These are the types of diseases that have reached the number one causes of death throughout the world. In fact, chronic diseases account for 63 percent of deaths, which amounted to about 36 million people in 2008. Which are the main chronic diseases: These include kidney disease, heart disease, obesity-associated diseases, diabetes, allergic…
Health Services that can’t keep up
There has been a vast increase in the number of people under the age of 65 with multiple long term medical conditions—such an increase that government-run medical in many countries cannot keep up. So far, most of medical education of medical students has focused on the care of individual diseases and not on how those diseases work in tandem with one another. More people are suffering from a condition called…
Prevention of Chronic Diseases
If communities would change their focus from treating chronic diseases to preventing chronic diseases altogether, we would all do better and the cost of healthcare would go way down. The more recent US Affordable Healthcare Act is attempting to put prevention at the top of the list.
Preventable non-communicative diseases
It’s become increasingly important to educate the populace on the many non-communicative diseases for which they may be prone to. These include heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and chronic obstructive lung disease. Those, and the rates of obesity are on the rise. The sad fact is that these are partially preventative diseases as you can do things to change your lifestyle and therefore decrease the incidence of the diseases.
Global Impact of Chronic Diseases
It is estimated that the five major chronic diseases facing the world today—heart disease, mental illness, diabetes, cancer and respiratory diseases can cost the world up to $47 trillion dollars within the next 20 years. This is according to a recent study done by the World Economic Forum. It would represent 4 percent of the world’s GDP within the next two decades.
The Obesity Debate
Should the government put its two cents worth when it comes to the issue of obesity? There is no question that obesity has become a global problem among developed countries and become a problem in some developing countries as well. When the government becomes involved, it always costs more money for the country and yet the payoff is often questionable. In the US, part of the new healthcare costs are…
Disease Management has Changed
Disease management involves specialized protocols for helping a person recover from a specific disease. When protocols for disease management were first discussed, it was the treatment of a single chronic disease with a single protocol. Things have come to change over time as more and more patients are having more than one chronic disease at a time. A protocol that solely works for one illness may not be effective when…
Considering Managed Care of Chronic Conditions
It is not easy to treat individuals with many diagnoses, such as heart disease and diabetes along with mental depression or anxiety disorders. There tends to be an increase in complications with these disorders all together and the mortality rate of such individuals tends to be higher. So what is the answer to helping these people have a higher quality of life without spending an excess of money in the…
What is the future of Healthcare?
This is an interesting time for healthcare. We have reached the time where we are living longer and healthier than ever but a time in which the diseases of aging are increasing. Pharmaceutical advances are being made all the time and there has been a decrease in long term disability along with our increase in longevity. It is expected that new medications will create innovations in healthcare and will help…