Chronic Diseases

Chronic Diseases

In medicine, a chronic disease is a disease that is long-lasting or recurrent. The term chronic describes the course of the disease, or its rate of onset and development.

Chronic can refer to a persistent and lasting medical condition. Chronicity is usually applied to a condition that lasts more than three months.

3 types of Diabetes

Type 1 Diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, and

was previously known as juvenile diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin.

Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. Only 5% of people with diabetes have this form of the disease. With the help of insulin therapy and other treatments, even young children with type 1 diabetes can learn to manage their condition and live long, healthy, happy lives.

Diabetes

Type 1 and type 2 diabetes have different causes. Yet two factors are important in both. First, you must inherit a predisposition to the disease. Second, something in your environment must trigger diabetes.

Genes alone are not enough. One proof of this is identical twins. Identical twins have identical genes. Yet when one twin has type 1 diabetes, the other gets the disease at most only half the time. When one twin has type 2 diabetes, the other's risk is at most 3 in 4.

Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes Type 2 diabetes has a stronger genetic basis than type 1, yet it also

depends more on environmental factors. Sound confusing? What happens is that a family history of type 2 diabetes is one of the strongest risk factors for getting the disease but it only seems to matter in people living a Western lifestyle.

Americans and Europeans eat too much fat and too little carbohydrate and fiber, and they get too little exercise. Type 2 diabetes is common in people with these habits. The ethnic groups in the United States with the highest risk are African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Pima Indians.

In contrast, people who live in areas that have not become Westernized tend not to get type 2 diabetes, no matter how high their genetic risk.

Obesity is a strong risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Obesity is most risky for young people and for people who have been obese for a long time.

Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes runs in families. In part, this tendency is due to children learning bad habits-- eating a poor diet, not exercising--from their parents. But there is also a genetic basis.

In general, if you have type 2 diabetes, the risk of your child getting diabetes is 1 in 7 if you were diagnosed before age 50 and 1 in 13 if you were diagnosed after age 50.

Some scientists believe that a child's risk is greater when the parent with type 2 diabetes is the mother. If both you and your partner have type 2 diabetes, your child's risk is about 1 in 2.

Diabetes

Glucose is an essential fuel for the body (Figure 1).The amount of glucose in the bloodstream is regulated by many hormones, the most important being insulin.

Diabetes in Boston

Diabetes

Diabetes

Diabetes

Diabetes

Diabetes

Diabetes

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a soft, waxy substance found among the lipids (fats) in the bloodstream and in all your body's cells. It's an important part of a healthy body because it's used to form cell membranes, some hormones, vitamin D and is needed for other functions. Cholesterol and other fats can't dissolve in the blood. They have to be transported to and from the cells by special carriers called lipoproteins.

There are several kinds, but the most important are Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL or ‘bad’) and High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL or ‘good’)

Cholesterol

There are two types of cholesterol: "good" and "bad." It's important to understand the difference, and to know the levels of "good" and "bad" cholesterol in your blood. Too much of one type — or not enough of another — can put you at risk for coronary heart disease, heart attack or stroke.

High cholesterol and Blocked Blood Vessels

Prevention and Treatment

Public screenings have the potential to detect large numbers of people with high blood cholesterol levels besides those detected in the physician's office. Public screenings can also raise awareness of high blood cholesterol as a risk factor for coronary heart disease, the first step toward modifying lifestyle to reduce risk. However, public screenings must meet acceptable criteria for recruitment, reliability of measurement of cholesterol levels, appropriate educational information, properly trained staff and referral.

Myths about cholesterol

Using margarine instead of butter will help lower my cholesterol.

Thin people don't have to worry about high cholesterol.

Symptoms

Hypertension

Hypertension

How is High Blood Pressure diagnosed

Blood Pressure

CategorySystolic

mmHg (upper #)

Diastolic

mm Hg (lower #)

Normal Less than 120 and Less than 80

Pre-hypertension 120-139 or 80-89

High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) Stage 1

140-159 or 90-99

High Blood Pressure

(Hypertension) Stage 2160 or higher or 100 or higher

Hypertensive Crisis

(Emergency care needed)

Higher than 180 or Higher than 110

Hypertension

Hypertension

Hypertension