By Antonino Balistreri
Chronic conditions are those long lasting conditions that can not be cured but only managed and controlled. These condition have different disability level that can range from mild to severe. The spectrum of the disability level can be quite large to the point that for some people affected by chronic condition can have a decent quality of life.
The term chronic is usually applied for those condition that last, or have not cleared out, for more than three months.
An example of list of chronic diseases can be the following:
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Cancer
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
- Cystic fibrosis
- Diabetes
- Hearth diseases
- Osteoporosis
- Amiotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
Although for some chronic disease there is little available in term of osteopathic treatment, for some others such as arthritis, COPD, asthma and heart disease it can make a difference in enhancing the patient quality of life.
For instance osteopathic treatments can increase joint range of motion and decrease muscle stiffness in people affected by arthritis; it can also increase the functionality of ventilation mechanism in people affected by COPD and asthma as well as decrease muscle tension in the accessory muscles of ventilation; finally it can also decrease the stress level in people affected by various degree of heart diseases thus keeping blood pressure in a more controlled “range of workload”.
The most important thing is to identify the needs of the patient ad develop a strategy that help him to deal with the chronic condition rather than being a mere victim of it.
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