Understanding Acute and Chronic Differences in Disease

The terms acute and chronic are often used in the diagnosis of disease. However, it turns out that not everyone understands the meaning of these two terms. Even some people translate acute illness with chronic illness as the same thing. In fact, the nature of these two types of disease is very different. The term acute, is more appropriate to be used for illnesses suffered in a relatively short duration or time, or when causing an attack in a short time. While the term chronic is used to describe a disease that can be suffered over a long period of time or develops slowly.

Recognizing Acute Diseases

Acute disease can be interpreted as a disease that occurs and causes complaints suddenly. Usually, the illness is not long, develops quickly, and requires urgent treatment. The following are some examples of acute illnesses.

• Asthma attack

Asthma attacks are symptoms of asthma that worsen suddenly which is marked by shortness of breath, wheezing or wheezing, tight neck and chest muscles, pale face, sweating, anxiety, panic, and coughing due to muscle constriction around the airway or bronchial . During an asthma attack, the lining of the respiratory tract will experience swelling, inflammation, and excess mucus production. In order to avoid this asthma attack, it is important to avoid the trigger factor. If an asthma attack occurs, do first aid in asthma, calm down, then sit down and take a slow breath, use an inhaler or nebulizer so that the asthma attack suffered can be handled properly. However, if the complaint does not go away or feels heavy enough, seek immediate medical help.

• Dengue fever

Dengue fever is an acute disease caused by dengue virus. Symptoms of dengue fever generally include fever accompanied by severe joint and muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes, headache, weakness and the appearance of a red rash. For those of you who experience signs and symptoms of dengue fever, it is important to immediately consult a doctor so that the diagnosis of this disease can be known quickly. Because, if you do not get the right treatment, this disease can be life threatening. To detect dengue fever, in addition to a physical examination, a blood test will be conducted. Handling dengue fever patients, among others, with sufficient rest, and consume lots of fluids to avoid dehydration due to vomiting or high fever. Consumption of pain medications such as aspirin or nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and hospital treatment, may also be recommended.

Understanding Chronic Disease

Apart from the length of the illness, chronic illness is somewhat more complex, and causes a gradual decline in one's health condition. Quite often a chronic disease can cause a person to lose a life. Diseases that can be categorized as chronic diseases include:

• Heart failure

Congestive heart failure includes chronic diseases that affect the ability of the heart muscle to pump blood. This condition is caused by a buildup of fluid that blocks the work of the heart muscle so it cannot pump blood efficiently. A person who has heart failure, needs to control his disease regularly, regularly take medication from a doctor, lead a healthy lifestyle, and adjust his diet. The purpose of carrying out routine control of this chronic disease is to prevent the disease from becoming more severe, thereby reducing the risk of death from heart failure.

• Cancer

Cancer can also be categorized into chronic diseases. Someone who has cancer, such as ovarian cancer, blood cancer, or breast cancer, needs to carry out routine control and treatment, so that cancer cells can disappear or not grow. The treatment given aims to control the disease, relieve symptoms, and help cancer sufferers live longer. Treatment for cancer varies, depending on how severe the cancer is, the number of cancers, the extent of the spread, the location of the cancer, and the patient's health condition. Possible treatment can be cancer surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

It is important to understand the acute and chronic differences in the disease, because the difference between the two characteristics of the disease will determine the type of treatment given.