Statistics
Statistical surveys on chronic diseases have been collected for about 40 years. It is assumed that almost 20% of all Germans suffer from a chronic disease. In the past, infectious diseases were the number one cause of death; today most people die as a result of a chronic illness.
It is assumed that 80% of all people die from chronic diseases. Studies have shown that on average women suffer more often from a chronic illness. This effect increases especially with age.
At over 65 years of age about half of all men are chronically ill and about 60% of women. In about 50% of all cases, people die as a result of cardiovascular disease. They are thus the most frequent cause of death in Germany.
25% die from a tumor disease. Tumour diseases are thus the third most frequent cause of death. In second place is stroke as the cause of death, which usually occurs at the base of an underlying disease and from which about one third of patients die immediately.
Chronic illness in childhood
Approximately five to ten percent of all children and young people in Germany suffer from a chronic disease. Strictly speaking, the comparatively harmless allergies also belong to the chronic diseases. Statistics show that about every third school child suffers from an allergy.
If a chronic disease occurs in childhood, it is more often a congenital disease or a disease with a genetic component. The most common chronic disease in children is bronchial asthma. A far more serious disease of the respiratory tract in childhood is mucoviscidosis (also: cystic fibrosis).
This is a congenital disease that is associated with a shortened life expectancy. Often the skin is also affected by a chronic disease in childhood. The disease of neurodermatitis should be mentioned in particular.
A very itchy skin rash develops especially in the crook of the arm and the hollow of the knee. The face is also frequently affected. The disease worsens when children are under stress and often continues into adulthood.
A sugar disease is more typical for older people, but if it is type 1 of the disease, it occurs in childhood to adolescence. At the beginning of the disease, children are usually conspicuous by the fact that, in order to compensate for their high sugar levels, they drink a lot, have to urinate a lot and are increasingly tired and exhausted. If the disease is diagnosed, the children must pay attention to their diet and regularly inject the missing hormone insulin, which is normally responsible for lowering the sugar level.
Approximately one percent of all children are born with a congenital heart defect, which must be operated on shortly after birth. In some cases, the defect can be completely corrected so that the children are not further restricted in their lives. Often, however, the heart defect results in the children being more limited in their physical abilities throughout their lives.
Epileptic diseases can also occur in childhood and are counted among the chronic diseases. Behavioural disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities such as dyslexia (reading and spelling difficulties) are also counted among the chronic diseases in children. It is estimated that almost five percent of all children are affected by ADHD. All chronic diseases in childhood cannot be enumerated in this framework, as this would simply be too many. Some of these are also very rare congenital diseases.
