Chronic Illness
It is time for medical researchers to investigate these long-contested illnesses with the full force of science’s power and for medical educators to train doctors in how to effectively care for chronically ill patients - Meghan O’Rourke
image by: Crohn's & Colitis UK
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COVID Long Haulers Are Calling Attention to Chronic Illnesses
When the first wave of coronavirus infections hit the U.S. in March 2020, what kept me up at night was not only the tragedy of the acute crisis but also the idea that we might soon be facing a second crisis—a pandemic of chronic illness triggered by the virus. I had just finished reporting and writing a book about infection-associated syndromes and contested chronic illnesses, long an underresearched and dismissed area of medicine. Medical science has increasingly understood that infections can trigger ongoing physical symptoms in a subset of people, yet the medical establishment has typically ignored the experiences of those people. Such conditions include myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic…
Resources
Chronic Illnesses Outpace Infections As Big Killers Worldwide
People around the world are getting healthier and living longer. Infectious diseases are declining around the globe. But at the same time, chronic health problems are on the rise, particularly in developing nations.
Google Won the Internet. Now It Wants to Cure Diseases
Google has long dabbled in medicine, but under Alphabet, true biomedical research will be more than just a side project.
In My Chronic Illness, I Found a Deeper Meaning
But sometimes, sick people just stay sick. And there’s no meditation, medication, positive outlook, exercise or smoothie that can fix it.
Living Sick and Dying Young in Rich America
Chronic illness is the new first-world problem.
Mass Effect Is Kind of a Utopia for the Chronically Ill
It’s a universe where disabilities don’t slow people down or dominate their lives.
Prevention efforts can ward off many chronic and expensive conditions. So why aren’t we investing in them?
They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I say what does kill you likely could have been prevented.
The Lonely Odyssey of Chronic Illness
For one woman, years of mysterious symptoms presented a challenge that the health care system seemed unable to handle.
Three ways to work together to reduce the impact of chronic illness
What have we been missing when it comes to chronic illness, and how can we tackle the problem differently? It may start with the realization that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. In fact, improving patient care and reducing costs requires a multi-faceted, multi-stakeholder approach, and many efforts working in coordination. Here are three of those efforts.
'It's Not Personal': When Chronic Illness Forces You to Take a Rain Check
Those frequently sidelined due to Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis can find difficult conversations with friends and colleagues inescapable. Here's how to go about them.
Can we get better at treating chronic illness? 3 ways to do it
These people navigate a medical system of widely variable quality, an ever-shifting insurance landscape, and real-world considerations like broken cars, broken marriages, and bad jobs that can shape the patient journey as much as the latest medical discoveries. Can we get any better at treating chronic illness...
Chronic diseases are taxing our health care system and our economy
The discussion of the soaring costs of health care in the U.S. often focuses on the high costs of treating diseases, rather than on the potential economic benefits of preventing them. Changes in lifestyle and diet could prevent many of the chronic diseases driving up the nation’s health care costs, improve health, and reduce the need for expensive treatments.
Chronic Illness Keeps Me Home Anyway – Here's How You Can Cope
Most immunocompromised people are already used to building relationships online and spending long stretches at home.
Doctors Often Fail To Treat Depression Like A Chronic Illness
"The approach to depression should be like that of other chronic diseases," said Dr. Harold Pincus, vice chair of psychiatry at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons and one of the study's co-authors. But "by and large, primary care practices don't have the infrastructure or haven't chosen to implement those practices for depression."
For older people and those with chronic health conditions, staying active at home is extra important – here’s how
While we don’t know for sure how long our lifestyles will be affected in this way, we do know periods of reduced physical activity can affect our health. Older people and those with chronic conditions are particularly at risk.
Growing pains
Poor countries are developing the diseases of the rich, with lethal consequences.
How I Became a Sick Person
The long-term form of Covid-19 has something in common with other forms of chronic illness — strange and varied symptoms, lasting debilitation, no certain treatment. But unlike other such conditions, which tend to creep up on society, long-haul Covid arrived suddenly,
I suffer from three chronic conditions. The worst part is knowing my pain could have been prevented
For years my pain was dismissed again and again by doctors who did not believe I was suffering.
Learning To Live A Full Life With Chronic Illness
Suddenly, everything changed. I got sick with flu-like symptoms. A doctor said it appeared to be an acute viral infection. I have yet to recover. The infection has left me mostly house-bound and often bed-bound.
Living With Invisible Illness
For patients with chronic diseases masked by a healthy-looking exterior, diagnoses can be elusive, or unhelpful.
Long Covid isn’t as unique as we thought
The nagging symptoms long-haulers experience reveal a frustrating blind spot in medicine.
My Chronic Illness Makes My Bed a Haven—and a Prison
When I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at 19, for better or worse, my bed became a catch-all for place of work, place of rest, and everything in between.
The promise of technology to help solve chronic disease management challenges
Imagine you are traveling to a new destination. In today’s world, it’s easy — jump in the car, plug your destination into the GPS, and go. You feel secure because this tool gives you real-time progress updates, helps if you make a wrong turn, and redirects you if traffic hazards emerge. What if we could do the same for navigating chronic illnesses?
The Social Media Cure
How people with chronic illnesses use memes, selfies, and emojis to soothe their suffering.
Two or more chronic health problems in middle age ‘doubles dementia risk’
Risk 2.5 times greater for those with multimorbidity at age 55, long-term study of 10,000 Britons reveals.
COVID Long Haulers Are Calling Attention to Chronic Illnesses
It is time for medical researchers to investigate these long-contested illnesses with the full force of science’s power and for medical educators to train doctors in how to effectively care for chronically ill patients. If they do not, they will be failing not only this generation of patients but many millions more to come.
100 Ways to Show Up for People with a Chronic Illness
Forty percent of Americans live with at least one chronic disease, and a third of us live with multiple chronic conditions. If you don't have a chronic illness yourself, you likely interact with people who do.
Chronically Capable
Leading the flexible work revolution for job seekers with chronic illnesses and disabilities
Personal Remedies
We help patients to prevent, improve or reverse any combination of their chronic illnesses. We empower patients, caregivers and providers, with instant evidence-based and individualized guidance on over 300 hundred chronic illnesses and dietary regimens. Our industry leading API enables telehealth, health tech, ACO, integrative medicine and wellness providers to engage their patients in more comprehensive and proactive management of their own chronic conditions.
Project Hope
We are a community of chronic illness warriors reaching towards growth and potential.
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