Patients with Multiple Illnesses

Abstract

Approximately one-third of all individuals have multiple chronic conditions (MCCs) worldwide. Certain disorders tend to cluster together often, with correlations, such as depression and stroke, Alzheimer’s illness and infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis coupled and diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The prevalence of MCC is highly variable according to the definition used and the number of conditions included in the study. In the United States, it was reported to be 23.1%. While other studies report MCC as high as 80% among elder population. The patient hardship encompasses a decline in standards of living, costly expenditures, adherence to multiple medications, incapacity to work, symptoms management, and a significant financial load on caregivers. This significant load from MCCs is expected to rise further. At the current time, the presence of more than one disease causes the patients to take multiple drugs, further prescribing may be indicated for the side effects of the used drugs. Furthermore, new conditions can be misdiagnosed and mistaken as side effects of the drugs the patients is taking. Strategies for treatments include establishing agreement on MCC taxonomy, putting more emphasis on MCC research, focusing on primary prevention to reduce morbidity, and shifting healthcare institutions and policies to a multiple-condition paradigm.