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Acute vs Chronic Diseases

Last Updated : 26 Jul, 2022
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If something abnormal happens in the body then we consider it a disease. At some time everyone will get affected by any form of illness like a common cold, fever, or any other type of illness. Diseases can be caused by different factors. Diseases affect the health of a person in a bad way. we can illustrate the diseases in two ways. they are Acute diseases and Chronic diseases.

Acute Disease

Acute diseases occur in a short of period time and they last for a short period of time. when compared to chronic diseases acute diseases are less intense and have a low risk of life. We can’t say these are risk-free. There are even some acute diseases that are more dangerous than some chronic diseases. Most acute diseases are cured with simple medication or by visiting a small clinic. A Doctor can provide the treatment by observing the symptoms of the acute disease. If we leave the acute disease without getting treated by a doctor it might turn into a chronic disease. asthma and kidney problems are acute diseases/ and can turn into chronic diseases if proper treatment is not provided. 

Most common Acute diseases are

  • Common cold
  • Fever 
  • Headache
  • Common flu
  • Burns
  • Broken bones
  • Runny nose
  • Nausea
  • Appendicitis
  • Influenza
  • Bronchitis

Causes

Acute diseases can be caused by different kinds of factors. Acute disease may be caused by different kinds of viruses (or) injuries from falling (or) reactions to medicines (or) some severe infections. They may occur in any way of the above ways.

Symptoms

Acute diseases have mostly the common symptoms. For example, if we take

  •  Fever shows symptoms like headache, fatigue, tiredness, and sometimes body pains.
  •  The common cold has the symptoms like runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, and fever.
  •  asthma shows the symptoms like difficulty in breathing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness.
  •  pneumonia shows the symptoms like lowering body temperatures, cough, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue.
  • Common flu has symptoms almost similar to the common cold.
  • Appendicitis has symptoms like nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and Sudden pain that begins around your navel and often shifts to your lower right abdomen.

These are the few symptoms of a few acute diseases.

Serious Acute Disease

Most Acute diseases are easily curable by consulting even a small doctor or with the help of homemade remedies. But, there are some diseases that are very serious and severe. They might cost the life of a person if he/she don’ has proper treatment.

Some examples of serious or severe Acute diseases

  • Heart attack
  • Organ failure
  • Acute bronchitis
  • Appendicitis
  • Pneumonia

Prevention of Acute Disease

Acute diseases are not very severe. If we are a little bit conscious about it then we can prevent it from causing us illness. As soon as we observe symptoms we have to consult a doctor and get diagnosed. We should not neglect even small illnesses like fever or common cold or asthma problems which may land us in problems.

Chronic Disease

The disease which happens or occurs very slowly in our body and lasts for a long period of time is known as a chronic disease. When compared to acute diseases chronic diseases are a bit more severe and dangerous. some chronic diseases will last until the death of that particular person. In some cases, the disease may get cured but its after-effects will long last. Almost 63% of deaths worldwide are caused by different kinds of chronic diseases. There is more chance for chronic diseases to pass from one generation to another generation through heredity as diabetes spreads through heredity. We don’t see major symptoms in chronic diseases as we see in acute illnesses. the chronic disease develops slowly without any indication. If we don’t recognize it in time it may cost the life of that particular person.

Some examples of chronic diseases are given below:

  • Diabetes mellitus
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Cancer
  • Obesity
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • Tuberculosis
  • Migraines
  • Cardiovascular diseases
  • Hypertension
  • Endometriosis
  • Thyroid
  • Chronic hepatitis

Causes

Major causes of chronic diseases are:

  •  Eating more junk food and not maintaining a healthy diet.
  •  Through heredity, chronic diseases transfer to the younger generation.
  •  Using drugs, smoking, and using more narcotics.
  •  Being idle without any physical activity can lead to chronic diseases.
  •  Not having safe sex can lead to some sexually transmitted diseases(STIs).

Symptoms

Symptoms of chronic illness are specifically related to a particular disease. sometimes we can see symptoms like mood swings, pain, and fatigue. Patients affected by chronic diseases may experience pain and fatigue almost every day. Particular suffering from chronic illness should follow the medication prescribed by the doctor.

Prevention

Following measures are needed to be taken in order to prevent chronic diseases:

  • We can prevent viral diseases like HIV/AIDS by having safe sex and some other prevention measures.
  • By avoiding smoking we can avoid dangerous diseases like cancer, and tuberculosis.
  • Having a physical exercise session of at least 1 hour a day can prevent many diseases.
  • By having a healthy diet we can prevent many diseases like obesity, thyroid, and so on.
  • We can control diseases like diabetes and kidney diseases by controlling body weight.
  • Consulting the doctor as soon as we fell ill may reduce the severity of a particular disease.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: Define Acute disease and chronic disease.

Answer:

  • Acute disease: Disease which occurs in a short period of time like instantly and lasts for a short period of time is known as Acute disease. Acute diseases can be cured by consulting the doctor or by homemade remedies. 
  • Chronic disease: Disease which happens slowly in the body and lasts for a long period of time is known as a chronic disease. When compared to acute disease chronic disease have a high risk for life.

Question 2: What are the symptoms of chronic disease?

Answer:

Symptoms of chronic disease chronic diseases have very mild symptoms but the most common symptoms are mood disorder, extreme pain, and fatigue. In some cases, pain and fatigue are common throughout the day.

Question 3: What are serious Acute diseases? and give some examples.

Answer:

Serious Acute Diseases Most Acute diseases are easily curable by consulting even a small doctor or with the help of homemade remedies. But, there are some diseases that are very serious and severe. They might cost the life of a person if he/she don’ has proper treatment.

Some examples of serious or severe Acute diseases

  1. Heart attack
  2. Organ failure
  3. Pneumonia
  4. Acute bronchitis
  5. Appendicitis

Question 4: Give some examples of the most common chronic diseases seen in the present day.

Answer:

Below are the most common chronic diseases seen in the present day

  1. Diabetes
  2. HIV/AIDS
  3. Chronic kidney problems
  4. Obesity
  5. Hypertension

Question 5: Mention some Disease prevention tips.

Answer:

Prevention is always better than cure. so, we have to prevent the diseases before they make us sick. Here are some prevention tips.

  • A healthy diet
  • Physical exercise
  • Avoiding junk food
  • Avoiding smoking
  • Avoiding intake of drugs and alcohol

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