Chronic Illness is a human health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. This means having to adjust to the demands of the illness and the therapy used to treat the condition is also important in the journey.

It is clear that chronic disease has become the plague of the 21st century. In fact, 7 of the top 10 causes of death in the United States are chronic diseases, with heart disease and cancer leading the way and accounting for almost half of all deaths. All told, chronic diseases cause about 70% of the deaths among Americans every year. Roughly half of all adults in the U.S. havehalf of all adults have one or more chronic diseases and nearly a quarter have two or more. In addition, the prevalence of chronic disease increases dramatically with age.

While many illnesses can be considered chronic, there are 12 major chronic conditions;

Most chronic illnesses do not fix themselves and are generally not cured completely. Some can be immediately life-threatening, such as heart disease and stroke. Others linger over time and need intensive management, such as diabetes.