Chronic diseases are diseases that a person has for a long time, generally three months or more. Chronic diseases typically can’t be prevented by vaccinations, or cured by medicine.
Examples of chronic diseases are: cancer, cardiovascular disease (heart disease, stroke, hypertension), diabetes, obesity, lung diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and asthma. Chronic diseases are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide.
Chronic disease can be prevented. There are five important factors that can affect a person’s risk for chronic disease: nutrition, physical activity, tobacco use, alcohol use and long-term stress. These factors are often things people can change.
Chronic disease prevention focuses on helping people be healthy. The goal is to stop the disease before it starts or gets worse.
For more information emailchronicdiseaseprevention@ahs.ca
