Despite advances in science, there are still diseases for which a cure has not yet been found and which will definitely lead the patient to death. These can be chronic, hereditary, genetic or rare diseases. Their management can be carried out by a special care unit such as palliative care.
Incurable diseases, without treatment for the cure
Researchers have been studying the question for years, but what we have been able to do for the moment is to extend life expectancy, as with AIDS, where antiretrovirals allow people with HIV to live longer and longer. .
In this register, we are also still waiting for drugs to treat degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, affecting nerve cells in the brain or muscular dystrophy which affects the muscles.
Treatments given to date are used to alleviate symptoms and slow down degeneration. At the moment, we have not yet found a way to reverse the process.
Other diseases that cannot be cured include cancer in all its forms. While the remission rate is encouraging if the disease is diagnosed early on, the fact of the matter is that cancer is still viewed as the worst disease of all.
Another condition that may seem trivial at first glance is asthma. Medicines exist to control the inflammation of the respiratory tract it can cause, but asthma remains to this day without definitive treatment.
Treatment for diabetes aims to prevent long-term complications, but does not cure it. When it comes to disease without treatment, it's hard not to mention multiple sclerosis, which attacks the central nervous system. Medicines that are still available are used to reduce symptoms and slow the progression of the disease.
Finally, we can also take as an example schizophrenia, which manifests itself in the alteration of the personality. Although common, this mental illness only has a lasting remission rate of just over 30%.
What is an incurable disease?
A disease is incurable when it does not exist when we talk about a treatment that can cure it. An incurable disease does not necessarily lead to an early death since some can be controlled. However, others cause death or affect the quality of life.
Degenerative diseases
are among the incurable diseases. They lead to an evolutionary increase in the patient's deficiencies due to the progressive degradation of cells, tissues or organs. In general, they lead the patient to a significant disability at the end of life. They can be of neurological origin when they affect the nervous system.
This is the case with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis or even Charcot's disease. They can also affect the muscles as in the case of muscular dystrophy. Of genetic origin, this pathology gradually sees the patient's muscles lose volume and strength. The situation gradually worsens until the patient's death.
Degeneration can also affect the bones, such as Paget's disease, which generally affects men from the age of 50. It causes bone pain, but also deformities. Generally speaking, degenerative diseases affect the elderly. Patient care usually requires specialized care units.
Proliferative pathologies or cancers
Cancer is the malignant form of a tumor. A tumor is defined as an uncontrolled proliferation of cells in the body. While cells normally multiply in a controlled manner, cancer does not. Thus, the tumor can affect the functioning of the organ from which it originated. When cancer cells invade the surrounding tissues, it is called metastasis where there is formation of secondary tumors.
Autoimmune diseases
lead to a dysfunction of the immune system which does not always lead to these types of diseases. Indeed, the system may have become too sensitive to certain exogenous constituents. On the other hand, we speak of an autoimmune disease when the immune system attacks the constituents of the body. This is the case, for example, with type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease or rheumatoid arthritis.
The antibodies generate legions in cells and tissues, which can cause symptoms of varying severity.