Chronic

This important term in medicine comes from the Greek chronos, time and means lasting a long time. A chronic condition is one lasting 3 months or more, by the definition of the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics. In ancient Greece, the "father of medicine" Hippocrates distinguished diseases that were acute (abrupt, sharp and brief) from those that were chronic. This is still a very useful distinction. Subacute has been coined to designate the mid-ground between acute and chronic.

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1. Referring to a health-related state, lasting a long time. 2. Referring to exposure, prolonged or long-term, sometimes meaning also low intensity. 3. The U.S. National Center for Health Statistics defines a c. condition as one of 3 months' duration or longer. [G. chronos, time]

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chronic disease, rheumatoid arthritis, neoplasms, infections, cryoglobulinemia [conditions in which rheumatoid factor is produced]

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chron·ic 'krän-ik also chron·i·cal -i-kəl adj

1 a) marked by long duration, by frequent recurrence over a long time, and often by slowly progressing seriousness: not acute <\chronic indigestion> <her hallucinations became \chronic>

b) suffering from a disease or ailment of long duration or frequent recurrence <a \chronic arthritic> <\chronic sufferers from asthma>

2 a) having a slow progressive course of indefinite duration used esp. of degenerative invasive diseases, some infections, psychoses, and inflammations <\chronic heart disease>{{}}<\chronic arthritis>{{}}<\chronic tuberculosis> compare ACUTE (2b(1))

b) infected with a disease-causing agent (as a virus) and remaining infectious over a long period of time but not necessarily expressing symptoms <\chronic carriers may remain healthy but still transmit the virus causing hepatitis B>

chron·i·cal·ly -i-k(ə-)lē adv

chro·nic·i·ty krä-'nis-ət-ē, krō- n, pl -ties

chronic n one that suffers from a chronic disease

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adj.

describing a disease of long duration involving very slow changes. Such disease is often of gradual onset. The term does not imply anything about the severity of a disease. Compare acute.

• chronicity n.

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chron·ic (kronґik) [L. chronicus, from Gr. chronos time] persisting over a long period of time.