Meaning & use
chronic diseases
Last updated
“chronic diseases” is a form of “chronic disease”.
Meaning
nounpluralmedical
Illnesses that last a long time, often for life, and usually develop slowly instead of appearing suddenly.
Grammar: Plural form: chronic diseases are a leading cause of death; singular chronic disease.
Patterns
- manage chronic diseases
- chronic diseases such as something
Diabetes and asthma are two common chronic diseases.
The clinic helps older patients manage chronic diseases with regular visits.
Chronic diseases cost health systems a great deal each year.
Word forms
| singular | chronic disease |
|---|
Common combinations
- manage chronic diseases
- Nurses teach patients how to manage chronic diseases.
- prevent chronic diseases
- A healthy diet helps prevent chronic diseases.
- suffer from chronic diseases
- Many adults suffer from chronic diseases without knowing it.
- burden of chronic diseases
- The burden of chronic diseases is growing worldwide.
- risk of chronic diseases
- Smoking raises the risk of chronic diseases.
Synonyms and how they differ
- long-term illnesses
- Long-term illnesses is the everyday wording, while chronic diseases sounds more technical.
- lifelong conditions
- Lifelong conditions stresses that the problem never goes away, which is not true of every chronic disease.
- persistent illnesses
- Persistent illnesses suggests symptoms that keep returning, and is less common in medical writing.
Opposites
Word family
- chronic adjective
- lasting a long time or constantly returning
- chronically adverb
- in a way that lasts a long time
- chronicity noun
- the state of lasting a long time, in medicine
- disease noun
- an illness of the body or mind
Commonly confused: chronic diseases or acute? chronic diseases or infectious diseases?
chronic diseases vs acute
Acute describes an illness that starts suddenly and is short, while chronic describes one that lasts a long time.
chronic diseases vs infectious diseases
Infectious diseases spread from one person to another, while chronic diseases are defined by their length, not by spreading.
Practice
Heart disease and diabetes are examples of ____ because they usually last for years.
Choose one answer.
Chronic diseases are long-lasting illnesses, which matches diabetes and heart disease. Acute injuries and temporary conditions describe short-term problems.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “chronic diseases”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.