What Conditions are Considered Chronic?

Chronic conditions are typically described as ongoing illness lasting more than a year. The condition usually impacts your daily life significantly and/or requires consistent medical care. According to the CDC, 60% of adults in the US have a chronic condition, and 40% have two or more chronic conditions. 

Dr. Amit Reenu Paliwal provides comprehensive chronic care management at Indus Healthcare. He has three offices, in Pomona, West Covina, and Montclair, California. He works with you to help manage symptoms, relieve pain, and participate in life as fully as possible, no matter what your condition.

Chronic conditions versus chronic illness 

The line can be a bit blurry between what are and what are not chronic conditions and chronic illness or disease. Different organizations classify different illnesses as chronic. 

For example, the CDC recognizes seven illnesses as chronic: 

1. Alzheimer’s disease
2. Diabetes (type 1 or type 2)
3. Cancer of any kind
4. Kidney disease
5. Lung disease
6. Heart disease
7. Stroke 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recognizes nearly three times as many conditions as chronic, including diseases such as HIV and illnesses like depression. Other chronic illnesses include autoimmune conditions like lupus, multiple sclerosis (MS), and fibromyalgia. 

Asthma, degenerative disc disease, and rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis can all cause significant and ongoing discomfort and distress. So can unexplained low back pain, anxiety or PTSD, and a number of other issues.

As a general rule, if your condition is ongoing, has a significant effect on what you can and can’t do, requires you to take daily medication to manage symptoms that are harmful to your health, or makes you get regular care or treatment from a doctor, it’s considered chronic.

Living with chronic conditions

Many people with chronic illness have to take daily medication to stay healthy, such as blood thinners or blood pressure pills. Others need treatment weekly or more often, such as dialysis patients. Chronic pain is a common side effect of many conditions and must be managed. Some chronically ill people lose mental capacity and need specialized care.

Dr. Paliwal will sit down and discuss your options for chronic care management. He’ll go over your symptoms, review your prescriptions, and suggest ways you can use lifestyle changes to improve your day-to-day life. The primary goals when treating chronic conditions are to relieve pain, increase mobility, and prevent depression. 

Proper management of chronic conditions is crucial to keeping you in the best health possible. Having a doctor on your side who can help you approach your condition from all angles instead of just treating individual symptoms can give you a better quality of life.

If you would like to talk to Dr. Paliwal about managing your chronic condition, call the location closest to you or schedule an appointment online today.