Progressive disease or progressive illness is a

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...

or physical ailment whose course in most cases is the worsening, growth, or spread of the disease. This may happen until

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

, serious debility, or

organ failure Organ dysfunction is a condition where an organ does not perform its expected function. Organ failure is organ dysfunction to such a degree that normal homeostasis cannot be maintained without external clinical intervention or life support. It i ...

occurs. Some progressive diseases can be halted and reversed by treatment (surgical, dietary, or lifestyle interventions). Many can be slowed by medical therapy. Some cannot be altered by current treatments. Though the time distinctions are imprecise, diseases can be ''rapidly progressive'' (typically days to weeks) or ''slowly progressive'' (months to years). The time course of a disease affects whether it is considered acute or chronic. By definition, virtually all slowly progressive diseases are also

chronic disease A chronic condition (also known as chronic disease or chronic illness) is a health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. The term ''chronic'' is often applied when the ...

s. Biologically, many of these are also referred to as degenerative diseases due to the cellular changes. Not all chronic diseases are progressive: a chronic, non-progressive disease may be referred to as a ''static'' condition. ''Progressive disease'' can also be a clinical endpoint i.e. an endpoint in a clinical trial. A progressive disease should not be confused with a ''terminal'' disease, the difference being that a terminal disease invariably leads to death. __TOC__

Examples

There are examples of slowly and rapidly progressive diseases affecting all

organ systems An organ system is a biological system consisting of a group of organs that work together to perform one or more bodily functions. Each organ has a specialized role in an organism body, and is made up of distinct tissues. Humans There ar ...

and parts of the body. The following are some examples of rapidly and slowly progressive diseases affecting various organ systems: *

Brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) is an incurable, always fatal neurodegenerative disease belonging to the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) group. Early symptoms include memory problems, behavioral changes, poor coordination, visu ...

progresses rapidly compared to

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. * Eyes:

Cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens (anatomy), lens of the eye that leads to a visual impairment, decrease in vision of the eye. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colours, blurry or ...

s can be static or slowly progressive.

Macular degeneration Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a medical condition which may result in blurred vision, blurred or vision loss, no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no sym ...

is slowly progressive, while retinal detachment is rapidly progressive. *

Lung The lungs are the primary Organ (biology), organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the Vertebral column, backbone on either side of the heart. Their ...

Emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...

due to

alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (A1AD or AATD) is a genetic disorder that may result in lung disease or liver disease. Onset of lung problems is typically between 20 and 50 years of age. This may result in shortness of breath, wheezing, or an inc ...

is a slowly progressive pulmonary disease. *

Kidney In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organ (anatomy), organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and rig ...

s: Goodpasture's syndrome is a rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis, while diabetic glomerulosclerosis is slowly progressive. *

Pancreas The pancreas (plural pancreases, or pancreata) is an Organ (anatomy), organ of the Digestion, digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdominal cavity, abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a ...

: Type 1 diabetes mellitus involves rapidly progressive loss of

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (''INS)'' gene. It is the main Anabolism, anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabol ...

secretory capacity compared to type 2 diabetes mellitus, in which the loss of insulin secretion is slowly progressive over many years. MODY 2, due to ''GCK''

mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, ...

, is a relatively static form of reduced insulin secretion. *

Joint A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

s: Both

osteoarthritis Osteoarthritis is a type of degenerative joint disease that results from breakdown of articular cartilage, joint cartilage and underlying bone. A form of arthritis, it is believed to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the world, affect ...

and

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects synovial joint, joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and h ...

are slowly progressive forms of arthritis. *

Nerve A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons). Nerves have historically been considered the basic units of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the Electrochemistry, electrochemical nerv ...

s: Essential tremor is a slowly progressive neurological disorder which is usually genetically passed down. *

Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

: the abnormal growth of body cells

References

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