A chronic disease is a disease or other human health condition that is persistent or long-lasting in nature. The term chronic is usually applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months. Common chronic diseases include asthma, cancer, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.

In medicine, the opposite of chronic is acute. A chronic course is further distinguished from a recurrent course; recurrent diseases relapse repeatedly, with periods of remission in between.

While often referred to as "non-communicable diseases", also usually lasting medical conditions, the latter are distinguished by their non-infectious cause. In contrast, some chronic diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, are caused by transmissible infections.

Contents

• 1 Key chronic conditions
• 2 Prevalence
• 3 See also
• 4 References
• 5 External links

Noun

sickliness (uncountable)

1. The state or characteristic of weakness, incapacity, or physical distress due to poor health, especially of a chronic nature.
   • circa 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II, act 2, sc. 1,

     I do beseech your majesty, impute his words

     To wayward sickliness and age in him.

   • 1843, Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. 9,

     Gradually it gave place to a smile; a feeble, helpless, melancholy smile; bland, almost to sickliness.

   • 1847, Anne Brontë, Agnes Grey, ch. 7,

     My devotions were disturbed with a feeling of languor and sickliness, and the tormenting fear of its becoming worse: and a depressing headache was generally my companion throughout the day.

Synonyms

• unwellness

Sickliness, Chronic (Medicine) And Chronic Illness @ Sickliness.com
... about Sickliness, Chronic (Medicine) And Chronic Illness. ... diseases", also usually lasting medical conditions, the ... for health care professionals. Chronic Illness ...
www.sickliness.com

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• Pediatric (7)

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• Allergies@ (146)
• Arthritis@ (99)
• Asthma@ (82)
• Auto-Immune Disorders@ (90)
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome@ (61)
• Chronic Pain@ (3)
• Congestive Heart Failure@ (22)
• Dementia@ (42)
• Diabetes@ (204)

• Endocrine Disorders@ (557)
• Headaches@ (88)
• Immune Disorders@ (716)
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease@ (38)
• Neurological Disorders@ (2,252)
• Rare Disorders@ (8)
• Respiratory Disorders@ (294)
• Vascular Disorders@ (157)

• Coping with Chronic Illness
  nlm.nih.gov
  Offers links to patient information and publications by the National Institutes of Health.
• Coping with Chronic Illness
  alpineguild.com
  An academic paper discusses illness in terms of stages, with a description of each in terms of its relevance to patients.
• Learning to Cope with Chronic Illness
  seniors-site.com
  Practical advice to patients and significant others.