Preventing or Curing Chronic Disease will not Continue to Reduce Disability.
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Abstract
The effects of chronic illness particularly among an aging population can be dreadful. Chronic diseases are characterized by a long period of illness, long-lasting effects, many risk factors, complex causes, and impairment. The most common chronic diseases are cancer, stroke, respiratory diseases, arthritis, heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. This text is a discourse into whether the prevention and curing of chronic illnesses often leads to reduced disability. From my understanding of the topic that there is little or no correlation between reduced disability and reduced chronic disease. Patients ailing from various chronic diseases have limited capacity to work and contribute to development. An aging society leads to psychological related issues such as depression, dementia, and mental impairment. Social issues have to do with reduced productivity while economic issues point to strained social insurance and pension systems. There is a need to invest more towards research in the field of Biogerontology particularly towards chronic illnesses and the ways of reducing disability that comes from taking from patients suffering from chronic illnesses.
Topic Description: Preventing or Curing Chronic Disease will not continue to Reduce Disability.
Chronic diseases are illnesses persisting over a prolonged period that has long-lasting effects. Chronic illnesses are characterized by complex causes, many risk factors, and functional disability or impairment. On a worldwide scale, chronic diseases are the leading causes of disability and death. Some of the chronic illnesses associated with high mortality and morbidity are asthma; A World Health Report noted that disability, mortality, and morbidity associated with major chronic illnesses account for about 60% of all deaths and 43% of the burden of disease (Benetos, et. al 2017). The number was expected to increase to 73% and 60% of all deaths and global burden of disease respectively by 2020. Lung cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, arthritis, kidney disease, and oral disease. There is a strong link between poor health and disability; disabilities develop from chronic conditions and conversely, individuals living with disability are at increased exposure to having chronic conditions. Notably, chronic illnesses are accelerating on a global scale and continue to pervade people from all socioeconomic classes and from across many regions.
Without a doubt, preventing or curing chronic diseases does not translate into reduced disability. Research shows that chronic health conditions that have been ranked as the most prevalent are not known to necessarily be the cause of most disabilities. For instance, an analysis by LaPlante depicted an inverse correlation between the prevalence of chronic illnesses and disability risk. In essence, highly prevalent conditions have low disability risk while low prevalence conditions have an increased disability risk. Sinusitis which has a high prevalence among people of all ages reports less than 1% of its patients being limited in activity while low prevalence conditions such as lack of arms, multiple sclerosis, and lung cancer have a relatively high risk of disability. Disability and chronic disease are likely to compromise older people’s quality of life. 79% of people above 70 years are reported to have at least one out of the seven most disabling chronic diseases including cancer, stroke, respiratory diseases, arthritis, heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes (Rattan, 2018). Another reason why curing chronic diseases does not necessarily translate into reduced disability has to do with the fact that a combination of more than one condition has a considerable impact on the disability of the patient more so if they are old. Recently, more people have reported that the chronic conditions which they suffer limit their activities making them unable to do most activities by themselves.
My Understanding of the Topic
From my understanding, the topic Preventing and Curing chronic disease will not continue to reduce disability points to the notion that there is little or no correlation between reduced disability and reduced chronic disease. Patients ailing from various chronic diseases have limited capacity to work and contribute to development. This is because in most cases, the illness tends to make them immobile and because they are in a lot of pain, they often rely on other people such as nurses or a caregiver to help them complete even the simplest tasks such as eating and washing. I tend to disagree with the notion presented in the topic because reducing and curing the illness, reduces the dependency of people on a caregiver. This translates to reduced disability. People will no longer have to rely on others and they will be self-reliant. However, most chronic illnesses are unlikely to be cured because they are terminal. Diseases like cancer however can be prevented and cured but only if they are discovered early enough. As such, the chances of reducing disability are minimal as most chronic illnesses do not have a cure and they advance with time.
The Impact of Improved Aging Society on Disability
Psychological Impact
There is evidence to suggest that aging brings about natural changes in a person’s body. The changes are likely to increase the likelihood of going through depression. As a person ages, there is a reduced concentration of folate in their nervous system and blood which leads to psychological related issues such as depression, dementia, and mental impairment. In turn, these factors only serve to increase disability. This is because people dealing with psychological issues rely on others and cannot be trusted to stay by themselves as they may cause inflict self-harm.
Social Impact
Aging leads to emotional and social changes. With age come labor issues where people are not as productive compared to when they were young. Elderly people are not hired because they are weak and some have age-related diseases which limits their productivity. They suffer from a condition such as cataracts, diabetes, depression, neck and pain and hearing loss. As a result, they always have to depend on other people since they are not very involved in any activity which leads to increased disability.
Economic Impact
An aging society has economic implications as a result of the strain placed on social insurance and pension systems. Keeping in mind that with old age comes the possibility of more serious diseases, if an individual does not have an insurance cover or a pension scheme, it means they have to rely on other people or the government for help which translates into increased dependency. The government has to channel more funds towards taking care of the vulnerable and aging population.
Personal Thoughts on Biogerontology
From my perspective, I feel there is a need to invest more towards research in the field of Biogerontology. There is a need to explore more particularly chronic illnesses and the ways of reducing disability that comes from taking from a patient suffering from chronic illnesses. Aging leads to socio, economic and psychological problems on the patient which increases dependency as they cannot carry out most activities by themselves and they tend to rely on other people for assistance.
References
Benetos, A., Toupance, S., Gautier, S., Labat, C., Kimura, M., Rossi, P. M., … & Aviv, A. (2017). Area: Biogerontology and genetics. In 13th International Congress of the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society–Developing Preventive Actions in Geriatrics (Vol. 8, p. 40).
Rattan, S. I. (2018). Biogerontology: research status, challenges, and opportunities. Acta Bio Medica: Atenei Parmensis, 89(2), 291.
