Impact of Chronic Medical Conditions on Adolescents



Introduction

The ability of the adolescent is affected by many medical conditions. It is widely held belief that adolescent is normally affected by conditions like diabetes, epilepsy and other such diseases. But, contrary to this normally held view all the medical conditions are not related to these diseases. The adolescent can also be affected by such diseases which are much severe in nature. These diseases are called chronic; they can severely harm the adolescents (Gross & Kinnison, 2007). We normally apply the term chronic when the disease goes on for more than three months. Some of the common chronic diseases which affect the health of the adolescents include asthma, cancer, arthritis and even COPD. One should remember that chronic diseases are different from recurrent course (Gross & kinnison, 2007). According to the World Health organization, (WHO) report, the largest numbers of moralities occur in the world due to chronic diseases. Some reports even suggest that 60 per cent of the deaths occur in the world due to chronic diseases. Of the top 10 causes of deaths in United States chronic diseases was the leading cause of death in the general population of United States(Gross and Kinnison, 2007).



Discussion

Chronic pain can affect the adolescent's ability in many ways. It can create limitations in the standing, strength, kneeling, carrying and sitting ability of the adolescent (Gurung, 2010). It may also result in sudden alteration in the temperature of the body which might increase the severity of the pain. The most common type of pain which was reported includes asthma, severe headaches and allergies in the respiration. The pain which the adolescents usually face leaves a varying impact on the adolescents (Abraham, 2008). As compared to children with the healthy lifestyle they faced behavioral problems. According to the research, the adolescents who faced multiple chronic conditions had less productivity and more absenteeism from the school. It shows that the impact on the adolescent was not only physical but mental as well (Abraham, 2008).

Impact of the Chronic Disease on the Adolescent

But, this case shows one of the more extreme sides. Almost all the children in the United States had some sort of physical problem (Gurung, 2010). Although, they come and go but as compared to adolescents who are facing chronic disease, the problems are manifold. The chronic condition is an umbrella term (Bernstein, 2012). Adolescent may not be ill all the time but it can be a recurrent pattern to it. The adolescent that suffers from the chronic disease normally spends a lot of time at the hospital or extensive medical care (Burton, 2012). A strong sense starts to develop among the children and they start thinking that they are different from others (Abraham, 2008). Their families have to bear the brunt of most of the problems due to their inactivity.

Infants and the Toddlers

Infants and the toddlers though are beginning to get the feel of the world, so they do not have understanding of their conditions to a ...