Acute disease versus chronic disease. Illness - acute or chronic

Chronic disease is a phrase that carries a hidden threat. In modern conditions, it is difficult to find an adult and even a child who does not have a history of such a diagnosis. What are the features of chronic diseases, when they carry a serious danger, and how to prevent their occurrence, let's try to figure it out in more detail.

What is a chronic disease?

The specificity of chronic diseases is hidden in the term itself, which comes from the Greek word "chronos" - "time". Diseases that last for a long time, and the symptoms are not subject to a complete and final cure, are considered to be chronic.

Doctors most often distinguish between acute and chronic diseases, depending on the clinical picture. The acute form is often characterized by high fever and pronounced pain syndrome. Treatment in this case is necessary urgently. require an integrated approach, both in examination and in treatment.

Most often, the goal of chronic disease treatment is not to achieve a complete cure, but to reduce the frequency of exacerbations and a longer remission period.

Features of the course of chronic diseases

Regardless of the area of the lesion, several features characteristic of the course of diseases in the chronic form can be distinguished.

Acute onset of the disease. The main symptoms are pronounced, the general condition of the patient worsens significantly.
Periods of remission, which at the initial stages can be perceived by the patient as a cure. After the first "cures", the symptoms of the disease return, but the clinical picture may not be as bright as at the beginning of the disease.
Alleviation of symptoms. At the beginning, it can clearly determine the beginning of a relapse or a period of remission of the disease. Over time, these pronounced stages of the disease are smoothed out: relapses may not be too acute, or, conversely, during remission, the disease continues to bother.

Chronic illness is far from a death sentence. It requires a more careful attitude to your health and a certain lifestyle correction.

How is the diagnosis carried out?

Chronic diseases can be diagnosed with the help of an examination by the attending physician, who prescribes appropriate tests and diagnostic methods.

Chronic human diseases can develop rapidly and be the result of improper or untimely treatment of an acute infection. In this case, the attending physician can immediately draw attention to the fact that the patient's condition does not improve and the disease takes a chronic form.

Another variant of the development of a chronic disease has the following picture. Dysfunction of any organ or organ system does not cause noticeable discomfort to the patient. The condition worsens gradually over a long period of time. The history of the development of the disease can help the doctor diagnose the presence of a chronic form. as a diagnosis can be established only after studying the entire clinical picture.

The most common chronic diseases

The modern ecological situation and not very high-quality food products lead to the fact that few people can boast of the absence of chronic ailments. Some people are more concerned about them, some less, but almost everyone has a similar diagnosis in their anamnesis.

Depending on the cause of chronic diseases and the severity of their course, supportive and restraining therapy is selected. The most common chronic forms in the following diseases:

Various forms of dermatitis (psoriasis, eczema, neurodermatitis).
Pyelonephritis.
Cholecystitis.
Ulcer of the stomach or duodenum.
Heart failure.

Such diseases are most often not subject to a complete cure and require constant restrictions and maintenance therapy from patients throughout their lives.

Are children sick?

A chronic disease is one for the diagnosis of which it is necessary to monitor the patient's condition for a rather long period of time.

When it comes to young children, it is impossible to talk about long-term monitoring of the course of the disease. The only exceptions are congenital malformations in the work of organs that affect the development and health of the child.

But even in this case, the prognosis for young patients is always more optimistic than for adults. Chronic diseases of children have one feature - it is likely that the baby will simply "outgrow" the disease. Children's organs are often immature and cannot fully perform their functions. Over time, the work of the body systems normalizes, and even chronic diseases can recede.

Treatment of chronic diseases

Chronic diseases are not a reason not to see a doctor, even knowing that a complete cure is almost impossible to achieve.

It is important to tune in correctly: there is no need to wait for the doctor to give a “magic pill”, after which the disease will recede. Also, do not trust intrusive advertising and pseudo-specialists who promise an instant cure for a disease that has been tormenting for years.

You need to be aware that a chronic disease is a serious malfunction of the whole organism, which is accustomed to improper functioning. The task of the patient - together with the doctor to correctly direct his body to a full-fledged work.

A competent specialist should prescribe an extensive course of examination, including not only the disturbing organ, but also other body systems.

Treatment is usually prescribed for a long time. In addition to targeted medications, it may contain drugs to improve the functioning of the immune system, the nervous system, as well as vitamin complexes.

Prevention of occurrence

Any disease is easier to prevent than to treat. In the case of chronic diseases, this principle is also relevant. You need to be attentive to the state of your body so as not to miss the first alarming bells. Preventive measures for chronic diseases include the following:

Any acute must be brought to a complete cure. The fact of the onset of recovery must be confirmed by the doctor.
Do not carry on your feet, waiting for the body to cope.
Pay attention to unpleasant symptoms that recur repeatedly (for example, heaviness in the side after eating, poor sleep).
Undergo regular examinations, at least within the minimum: fluorography, blood and urine tests, cardiogram. If you conduct a survey every six months, even a slight deterioration in performance will be noticeable.

When is emergency help needed?

In the presence of chronic diseases, patients usually know what an exacerbation looks like and what needs to be done. But if the exacerbation of the disease came suddenly, the attack is more acute than usual, accompanied by high fever or unusual symptoms - you should seek medical help.

In this case, you should immediately go to the hospital on your own to see your doctor or call an ambulance. In the event of the arrival of an ambulance, it is necessary to inform the doctor about a chronic disease that is in the anamnesis, as well as about the drugs that the patient managed to take before the arrival of medical help.

Also, do not neglect contacting a doctor if the usual methods of stopping an exacerbation do not help or if you need to increase the dose of the drug.

Chronic diseases can significantly impair the quality of life, but with small restrictions and regimen, you can achieve long periods of remission and many years of happy life.

E.N. Dziubina
NOU “Center for teaching homeopathy “Kantaris”, Chelyabinsk

Dear colleagues! In recent years, I have been occupied with the question of determining the nature of the disease (acute or chronic) at the first meeting with the patient. In real life, chronic diseases in a number of situations appear as acute, and acute ones seem to be severe chronic. A study of the results of the treatment of many and many cases seems to finally confirm one assumption in practice, and I decided to make an attempt to generalize my observations.

The guiding thread in the division of diseases into acute and chronic is easily traced when collecting an anamnesis - this is the direction (dynamics) of the patient's healing vitality, traces of its work before taking homeopathic medicines.

It is known that all processes occurring in the body are regulated from one center. Disturbances in the control of the body's activity spread from the center to the periphery and are manifested by disturbances in organs and tissues, secretions and sensations.

In the same order, the unaltered vital force produces a cure in cases of acute diseases. In cases of chronic diseases, the natural healing power is distorted, its attempts are not effective enough, therefore, each attempt to restore the disturbed balance in the body leaves a trace in the organs and tissues, persistent pathological secretions or sensations as a substitute for natural harmony. All disturbances in organs, tissues, emotions, thinking are the hallmark of a chronic miasm that torments a person, it is the result of the work of a distorted life force in attempts to adapt to the external environment, it is a map and compass for us, doctors who are looking for a cure for the patient. It is the direction of development of pathological changes in the body, i.e. the path chosen by the human life force, that allows the doctor to see how distorted it is, to understand whether the patient has come with an acute or chronic disease and to choose the right treatment.

Many cases of acute illness are obvious and respond well to homeopathic remedies. For example, febrile states during epidemic outbreaks, inflammation in the tonsils, lungs, kidneys, etc., which arose after hypothermia, trauma, poisoning, etc. The symptoms of the disease are distinct, the direction of the action of the vital force is easily determined, the right medicine quickly helps body to get rid of discomfort. However, the reality is not always so obvious. A considerable number of cases of long-term diseases, manifested by asthma attacks, epileptic seizures, cardiac arrhythmias, various skin rashes, were cured quickly and completely by homeopathic medicines. Most often, in these cases, one single such medicine is sufficient. It is these successes of homeopathy that make it famous as a miraculous method of treatment, and it is these cases that perplex the homeopathic doctor with many years of practice, when the miracle does not repeat in the next 5, 8, etc. cases. An analysis of the results of clinical practice from the point of view of studying the natural, natural mechanisms of adaptation in each individual case leads to the conclusion that much more often than it seems, we encounter acute diseases, we really know how to treat them well, but the miracle belongs to nature, which has managed to preserve the integrity of the body and maintain its momentum in some cases for decades. The following clinical examples of completed cases demonstrate the possibilities of homeopathy in cases of undistorted patient vitality.

Woman 51 years old. Went in for a psoriatic skin rash. The rash appeared 30 years ago shortly after the unexpected departure of her husband. All attempted allopathic treatment had no effect. Examination of organs and tissues did not reveal any pathological changes. The patient has a second family, children, is successful in her professional activities. According to the totality of symptoms, Sodium muriaticum was prescribed sequentially from 6 to 200 potency. After 3 months, the psoriatic rash disappeared. Catamnesis 3 years.

This case is considered as a case of acute illness, despite the 30-year duration. The vital force showed extraordinary resilience, first saving the woman's psycho-emotional sphere from damage by creating a local focus in the form of a psoriatic rash, then saving the achieved harmony from the effects of allopathic treatment.

Man 48 years old. He asked about attacks of bronchial asthma that appeared 4 years ago after being discharged from the army against the backdrop of a conflict situation. Attacks were rare, but severe, the patient used the services of "Ambulance". A year after that, his wife fell ill with a mental illness, the attacks became more frequent, but they were only at home, more often in the evening, they were treated with inhalers. He turned to a homeopath in connection with the appearance of seizures during working hours, because this deprived the patient of his livelihood. Phosphorus LM 06 was prescribed, 1 grain in 8 tablespoons of water. Within six months, the attacks gradually became more rare and disappeared. He took a dose of Phosphorus monthly for a year. A year after the start of treatment, the patient suffered a very severe bronchitis with an asthmatic condition in the summer, was treated in a hospital with allopathic medicines, after discharge he came to report that he felt completely healthy, the Phosphorus treatment was canceled. Catamnesis 3 years. This case is classified as "acute" due to the absence of any other complaints and objective manifestations in the patient. There were no changes in the mental sphere of the patient either before or during the disease. He has not lost any energy or stamina. Severe, from an allopathic point of view, the disease served as the basis for me to prescribe LM-potency (I was afraid of a homeopathic aggravation).

When diagnosing a chronic disease, we will always find traces of the distorted life force. She does not even always make an attempt to adapt, then we have cases of sudden death (acute heart failure often at a young age) or a suddenly developed severe disease with a progressive course (acute leukemia, cancerous tumors that manifested themselves at the stage of metastasis). The attempts made to adapt are always ineffective and instead of wonderful harmony they create countless forms of diseases that have different names (hypochondria, mania, scoliosis and kyphosis, caries, cancer, infertility, migraine, etc.). The same names can have acute diseases. The main difference is the direction of action of the vital force and the results of its work, manifested by the symptoms of the patient. A 7-year-old child, from the age of 2 often suffers from colds (on a monthly basis). Every time it all starts with a runny nose, then there is a cough, asthma attacks, an inflammatory process in the lungs. After 2-3 times of antibiotic treatment, the child continues to get sick according to the above scenario, but dysbacteriosis is added, asthma attacks also occur outside of a cold. At the age of 3 years, he turned to a homeopath for treatment. Allopathic remedies have been replaced by homeopathic ones, but the whole disease scenario has not changed. We see that the vital force is not able to excite the appearance of a cough with phlegm, which would remove traces of the inflammatory process of the mucous membranes, it is not even able to keep the process at the level of the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract, the disease progresses, self-healing is impossible. Symptomatic homeopathic treatment is not effective. A new case study at 5 years yielded an unexpected similar remedy, Zincum metallicum. Positive changes began from the first appointments, and almost all complaints disappeared within 3 months. Catamnesis 1 year.

The treatment of acute illnesses requires a search for similarity in the totality of the patient's symptoms; similarity in the treatment of chronic diseases is the totality of the patient's symptoms, his and his family background, and histories of previous suppressions. These are different similarities and different medicines. In the first case, we only need to strengthen the dynamics of the undeformed vital force; in the second case, we need to correct the deformation and direct it along the right path.

Bibliography.

Hahnemann S. Organon of medical art / Per. from English by A. V. Vysochansky, O. A. Vysochanskaya. - M.: Similia, 1998. - 384 p.
Homeopathy: Textbook of the French school. - M: Atlas. - 194 p.

dynamic medicine
Treatment of acute and chronic diseases:
What's the Difference?

(Article from "Homeopathy Today" magazine, US National Center for Homeopathy, April/May, 2002, issue 22, no. 4, pp. 18-19)

Judith Reichenberg-Ullman, PhD, MSW, Diploma of the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians; Robert Reichenberg-Ullman, PhD, Diploma of the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians

Whether a patient's illness is acute or chronic is what homeopaths often try to determine. The acute condition is self-limiting, usually lasting days or weeks and ending in either recovery or death; while neglected chronic diseases worsen over time, do not heal, cause discomfort, pain, disability or even death.

Acute or chronic disease?

Colds, influenza, cystitis (bladder infection), pneumonia, and otitis media (middle ear infection) are typical acute conditions. Bacterial infections in most cases are acute. Some viral infections are also acute, such as chicken pox or measles, while viral diseases, such as herpes or AIDS, are chronic. Fungal infections can also be acute or chronic. Injuries and conditions requiring first aid are also acute, although they can be chronic or incapacitating if not treated immediately and effectively.

Diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, autoimmune diseases, eczema, allergies, endocrine disorders, asthma, heart disease, and cancer are generally considered chronic diseases. The word "chronic" itself denotes the duration of time as a factor in the disease (from the Greek "chronos" - time). Chronic illnesses are mostly long-term, while acute illnesses are more rapid. Chronic diseases, although long-term, may have an initial acute phase, or this acute phase may appear at other times for a certain duration. These exacerbations can sometimes be mistaken for acute illnesses.

Is it necessary to determine whether the condition is acute or chronic before prescribing drugs? Some homeopaths will say yes, some no.

Let's analyze the differences and why they are made. Most homeopaths start with an extensive initial study of the disease, the goal of which is to find the patient's chronic/constitutional remedy based on the integrity of the symptoms. If the patient has a less serious illness, such as a cold or skin infection, this will be noted, but unless the symptoms are prolonged or recurrent, they will not be emphasized in the final analysis. When a constitutional remedy is given, it is expected to eliminate chronic symptoms for some time, increasing the person's resistance to acute illnesses.

Treatment of acute problems during constitutional treatment

When an acute illness occurs during a successful constitutional treatment (i.e., when the constitutional remedy works), what should the homeopath do? There are several possible answers. If an acute illness is life threatening, immediate action, homeopathic or otherwise, such as traditional medicine or surgery, should be taken. Homeopathic treatment can help with life-threatening diseases if the symptoms are very clear and the results of the prescription are visible immediately or very soon after the prescription of the remedy. If the illness is self-limiting and not too severe (such as a sore throat, a minor cold or flu), natural remedies such as dietary changes, fluids, hydrotherapy, physical therapy, and herbs such as Echinacea can be used quite effectively. Over-the-counter allopathic drugs such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, decongestants, and aspirin may be used if natural remedies do not provide sufficient relief. When the acute symptoms are well defined and fit well with a particular homeopathic remedy, it can be prescribed and bring about partial or complete recovery, often very quickly. It rarely happens that such a remedy interferes with the action of a constitutional remedy. It is very important not to take drug after drug without any result selectively, because the chances of acquiring some other problem increase. Choose your drug carefully. Our book Homeopathic Self-Medication, A Quick and Accessible Reference for the Whole Family, for example, can be very helpful in choosing a remedy that will work quickly and effectively.

Repeat the constitutional remedy

Some homeopaths, such as Massimo Mangialavori of Italy and Rajan Shankaran of India, prefer to repeat the constitutional remedy for acute problems, believing that the remedy will also help if the original constitutional prescription was correct. Manjialavori even believes that if a constitutional remedy does not help with exacerbations, then it is chosen incorrectly. In some cases this principle is correct, but not always. Judith had a patient who was always helped by Theridion for chronic PMS, digestive disorders and joint pain for six years. Theridion has been excellent all this time for any aggravation (there have been several), regardless of whether Theridion fits the specific symptoms or not. Robert had a patient and her son who were well helped by Phosphorus in all chronic diseases and acute attacks. Many patients have been helped by a dose of the constitutional remedy in acute manifestations of the disease, and they recovered faster. Some did not help.

Appointment for acute diseases

Those patients who do not respond quickly to a dose of the constitutional drug often require other drugs for rapid relief. We use one basic rule: to establish whether the acute symptoms are really the manifestation of an independent acute illness (such as an infection), or whether they are an acute worsening of a chronic condition (such as an asthma attack in patients with chronic asthma; profuse bloody diarrhea or a return of mental and emotional symptoms in patients with colitis). For acute illnesses that have nothing to do with a chronic condition, acute medications can be helpful, especially when time is of the essence. However, if there is no need for particularly rapid results, a dose of a constitutional remedy may be applied to check for a reaction. If nothing changes in 12-24 hours, a remedy suitable for the acute symptoms may be prescribed. Conversely, some exacerbations of a chronic disease, such as an asthma attack, may not respond to a constitutional remedy but will be well treated with a remedy suited to the acute specific symptoms of the attack. For example, a patient taking Tuberculinum as a constitutional remedy may have a good reaction to Natrium Sulfuricum, Arsenicum, or Medorrinum during an asthma attack, if the symptoms are consistent with them.

In acute homeopathic prescribing, several remedies may be needed as symptoms change, especially in diseases with clear disease stages. For example, in the case of the common cold, Allium cepa, Arsenicum, or Aconite may be prescribed for a runny nose and sore throat, but if the cold moves into the chest and causes coughing, Drosera, Rumex, or Spongia, prescribed on the basis of certain features and modalities of cough, will be more effective.

In some acute cases, one drug may be enough to nip the disease in the bud or completely eliminate it. A good example is the common use of Oscillococcinum in the initial stages of influenza, Ferrum Phosphoricum at the first sign of fever, or Aconite if the symptoms begin suddenly after exposure to cold or wind. When the monodrug completely matches the symptoms of the disease, the acute disease can be quickly cured without the development of further stages of the disease. Chamomilla, Pulsatilla, or Mercurius may be useful in this regard for otitis media. Cantharis or Sarsaparilla can quickly relieve the burning sensation and discomfort of acute cystitis. The clarity and strength of homeopathic remedies in first aid has convinced many skeptics of the reality of homeopathic treatment. The use of Arnica for traumatic injuries, Cantharis for burns, Hypericum for nervous disorders, and Apis for bites and allergic reactions have shown the effectiveness of a well-chosen homeopathic remedy in emergency cases. Usually, in first aid, the constitutional remedy is ignored in pursuit of a quick and radical result.

Changes in mental/emotional state

In acute illness, it is often very useful to assess whether there has been any change in the patient's mental or emotional state. This assessment also helps in determining whether the patient's condition is constitutional or not. If it matches, and the physical individual and general symptoms are also within the limits of the constitutional remedy, then the remedy can be prescribed with confidence. If the mental/emotional state remains the same, but the physical symptoms have changed radically, then an acute remedy may be needed. If the physical symptoms are the same, but the mental/emotional state has changed dramatically, either a new constitutional remedy or a new acute remedy may be given. Sometimes, in a severe acute condition, a drug may be needed that was not taken into account in the initial stage of treatment, but had a strong effect on chronic symptoms, as well as on the acute state of the disease. In this sense, an acute condition may be a "prelude" to a more advanced constitutional prescription. When such a remedy helps, very often a future acute manifestation of the disease can be cured by this remedy.

When prescribing a drug, whether acute or chronic, it is important to know exactly what your intention is. What needs to be cured, and what is the effect of the drug you have chosen really aimed at? Do you want a drug to cure chicken pox or chronic eczema? Do you want to focus on the mental or emotional aspects of the case, chronic or acute, and is the remedy of your choice appropriate? Do you take into account the strange, rare and specific symptoms of an acute illness and are they within the scope of the constitutional remedy or are they completely new? The answers to these questions will help you focus on what you expect from the drug and compare it with the results that appear after using it. When you prescribe a drug for an acute condition, you must know what you are treating, the time frame in which you expect a response, and what kind of response you expect. In this way, you make sense of what happens when you prescribe a remedy and make the right choice for a quick resolution of an acute condition, while maintaining and even increasing the effect of constitutional treatment.

A feature of acute (mostly infectious) diseases - for example, childhood infections - is the relative constancy of their symptoms in different patients. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the main symptoms of an acute illness are associated with the impact on the body of an infectious agent, and not with the response of the infected organism. However, there are some individual symptoms that are of considerable value in choosing the right homeopathic remedy. For example, all people with influenza show fever, weakness, headache, etc. But some patients experience repeated vomiting, others have either loose stools, or unquenchable thirst, or a complete lack of thirst, etc. In general, the picture of acute diseases is less individual than chronic ones. Acute diseases are characterized by a tendency to affect young individuals, regardless of their species. Individual is the susceptibility of an individual to a given infectious agent. In dogs, for example, the most common acute diseases are canine distemper, infectious hepatitis, and parvovirus infections. In cats, panleukopenia (cat distemper) and viral infections of the upper respiratory tract are most common. Such diseases usually proceed quickly, but in some cases it is quite difficult, sometimes even posing a real threat to the patient's life. However, after the disappearance of the symptoms of the disease, the patient, as a rule, recovers completely, while there is no re-infection and the disease does not acquire a protracted course. In some cases of acute diseases, residual effects are noted, but they usually do not progress. In chronic diseases, a completely different picture is observed (see below).

A characteristic feature of infectious diseases is their relative usefulness, since both individuals and the population as a whole become stronger by stimulating the immune system and increasing the ability to self-heal. Acute infectious diseases contribute to the rejection of weak individuals within the population (herds, flocks, pride), which increases the ability of the population and the species as a whole to survive. From this point of view, vaccination may be counteracting the natural selection process (see Chapter 16 "Vaccination").

I would like to quote two quotations from the works of empiricists, which allow us to more fully understand the differences between acute and chronic diseases. J.T. Kent, the famous homeopathic physician, differentiates these two categories of diseases as follows:

“An acute miasm is a miasm that goes through all stages in strict order, starting with a prodromal or incubation period (long or short), then a period of peak and then a period of decay, in which signs of cure can be traced. A chronic miasm is a miasm that has a prodromal period, a high period and no waning period; it ends only with the death of the patient.

Philip Incao, a modern anthroposophist, puts it simply: acute illness It is a flame that burns brightly at first, then burns out and goes out. Chronic illness- this is a smoldering fire; it continues to smolder and never goes out” 3 (author’s italics),

The concept of "chronic disease" includes all types of diseases, with the exception of acute infectious diseases. In essence, a chronic illness is nothing more than the inability of the body (or its immune system) to heal from some disease. A chronically ill patient never fully recovers and only gets worse. The gradual decline in health that is usually associated with age-related changes actually represents the progress of the patient's disease. A healthy individual remains relatively strong all his life; a rapid deterioration in health is noted shortly before death.

Almost all diseases of the adult body (as well as a significant part of the diseases of adolescence) fall into the category of chronic diseases, including such syndromes as hypo- and hyperthyroidism, skin diseases (including allergic dermatitis after flea bites), diabetes, malignant tumors, inflammation of the intestines, arthritis, lupus - in short, a huge number of diseases. Numerous diagnoses in a patient do not mean that the patient suffers from many diseases - it can be assumed that these are different manifestations of the same disease.

Only one disease can "settle" in the body - one, but for life. This disease is nothing but the inability of the body to cope with physical or mental stress, which leads to a significant weakening of the body, more precisely, to a weakening of the vital force.

Most infectious diseases proceed in several stages. Usually the disease begins with an incubation period. This is the time that elapses from the moment of infection to the appearance of the first symptoms. The pathogen has already broken through the first line of defense, penetrated the body, but in order to loudly declare its presence, it has yet to multiply, to release a sufficient amount of toxins.

This is followed by the prodromal period, which is also called the period of precursors. There are no clear symptoms yet. Worried about weakness, headache, muscle aches, body temperature rises slightly, which leads to slight chills. You don’t have to go far for an example: you must have experienced a state when there is no runny nose, no cough, no sore throat, but from your general well-being you already guess that “it looks like a cold is starting.” The prodromal period usually lasts 1–3 days, but it does not occur with all infections.

In full force, all the symptoms of an infectious disease unfold during the peak. Actually, at this stage, many people turn to doctors. Then the symptoms subside, and finally recovery occurs. When a person is already healthy, he may still have residual effects, with some infections he is still contagious to others, usually for several days.

What symptoms should make you see a doctor? All manifestations of infectious diseases can be divided into general and local.

What is the difference between general and local symptoms during infections?

General manifestations in all infectious diseases are the same. A sick person feels unwell, weak, gets tired quickly, becomes lethargic, drowsy. Disturbed by headaches, pain and aches in muscles, bones. The body temperature rises. Common symptoms occur due to poisoning of the body with toxins of pathogens and products of the inflammatory reaction. Based on these manifestations, it is impossible to say exactly what kind of infection a person has, and whether it is an infection at all.

Local manifestations occur directly in organs affected by pathogens:

Respiratory infections: runny nose, nasal discharge, coughing, sneezing, sore throat and sore throat, stuffy ears, hoarseness.
Intestinal infections: abdominal pain, frequent loose stools, sometimes with blood impurities, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite.
Sexually transmitted infections: vaginal discharge in women and from the urethra in men, pain, itching, redness, rashes in the genital area, pain and burning during urination, frequent urge.
Liver infections (viral hepatitis): pain and heaviness under the right rib, jaundice, abdominal enlargement (ascites), dark urine, light stools.

Sometimes there are no local symptoms at all, but there are general ones, for example, a fever persists for a long time. In such cases, it is difficult to establish a diagnosis. The infectious disease specialist will prescribe additional diagnostic methods, consultations of other specialists.

How are acute and chronic infections manifested?

In acute infections, the symptoms are more pronounced, but they do not last long, usually 3-10 days. Chronic infectious diseases are characterized by less pronounced manifestations, but they occur for a long time. Pathogenic microbes can "sit" in the body for years, exhausting it, reducing immune defenses, causing autoimmune disorders.

Chronic infections often come in waves. An exacerbation occurs, which, with its vivid manifestations, resembles an acute illness. Then the symptoms subside, the patient feels better, a period of remission begins - the process subsides and the condition improves. After a while, another exacerbation follows.

What complications can the infection lead to if left untreated?

Most infections don't pose much of a threat. However, it is worth remembering that even a banal acute respiratory disease can lead to serious complications. The risks are especially high in young children and the elderly, in people with reduced immunity. If the disease does not go away for a long time, the symptoms intensify, do not hesitate to consult a doctor.