Incurable diseases are chronic or progressive conditions with no known cure, but they are often manageable with treatments focused on quality of life, such as cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, advanced heart/lung/kidney/liver failure, and muscular dystrophy, with care shifting to palliative support for symptom relief and comfort as the illness progresses.
cancer. dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. advanced lung, heart, kidney and liver disease. stroke and other neurological diseases, including motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis.
Most diseases and conditions aren't curable. Still, this doesn't mean treatments can't provide good health and the peace of mind that goes along with them.
What are Life-Threatening Conditions? Life-threatening conditions require immediate recognition and intervention to improve the casualty's chances of survival. These conditions include cardiac arrest, severe bleeding, anaphylaxis, and shock.
Huntington disease is an inherited, neurodegenerative disorder. If a parent has the condition, each child will have a 50% chance of developing the disease.
Necrotizing Fasciitis
This is a very dangerous bacterial skin infection that can kill the victim within a short period of time. It is popularly known as flesh eating bug because of its ability to speedily spread through the body and kill the body's soft tissue.
Medical professionals call high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, the silent killer because it can go undetected for a long period of time and leads to death. Most people who have high blood pressure do not have any symptoms; testing is the only way to determine if someone has it.
Abstract. The six killer diseases, malaria, tuberculosis, measles, acute lower respiratory infections, diphtheria, and whooping cough, represent the most significant contributors to the overall global burden of disease.
Ischemic heart disease, or coronary artery disease
The world's deadliest disease is coronary artery disease (CAD). Also known as ischemic heart disease, CAD occurs when the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart become narrowed. Untreated CAD can lead to chest pain, heart failure, and arrhythmias.
The Lethal Six (airway obstruction, tension pneumothorax, cardiac tamponade, open pneumothorax, massive hemothorax, and flail chest) are immediate, life-threatening injuries that require evaluation and treatment during primary survey.
Five big global health wins in 2025 that will save millions of...
The number one killer in the world is Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), also known as heart disease, which causes about one-third of all global deaths annually, killing millions each year and remaining the leading cause for the past two decades. Diseases like ischaemic heart disease (coronary artery disease) and stroke are major contributors, with COVID-19 temporarily disrupting trends but CVD consistently holding the top spot.
Respiratory System
Emergent diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) have a high mortality and may cause death within hours.
History's Most Terrifying Diseases Explained
Incurable cancers are those that current treatments cannot completely eliminate, often because they are advanced (spread) or have returned after initial treatment, but they are not necessarily untreatable; treatments like chemo, radiation, and new targeted therapies aim to control the disease, slow growth, relieve symptoms, and improve quality of life. Common examples of cancers often considered incurable include pancreatic, liver, brain, esophageal, and certain advanced lung cancers, but research continuously offers new hope, with many patients living longer with ongoing management.
A chronic disease is a condition that lasts at least one year and requires ongoing medical attention or limits activities of daily living or both. Examples of chronic diseases include autoimmune diseases, diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, hypothyroidism, multiple sclerosis, and pain.
Dementia has become the country's leading cause of death, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The ABS released new figures on Friday that revealed dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, accounted for more than 17,500 deaths (9.4 per cent) in Australia in 2024.
Leading Causes of Death
Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) Hypertension, often nicknamed the “silent killer,” is one of the most common health problems worldwide, affecting over 1.4 billion adults in 2024 alone.
Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a disease entity characterized by sudden onset fever, chills, vomiting, diarrhea, and rash which can quickly progress to hypotension, multiorgan system failure, and even death.
The agency's universal recommendations no longer include vaccines against flu, COVID-19, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, or meningococcal meningitis.
7 Diseases That Can Be Asymptomatic
5 of the worst blood pressure medications
There's no single "hardest" chronic illness, as impact varies, but conditions like ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), which causes progressive paralysis; severe neurological pain conditions like Trigeminal Neuralgia, leading to extreme facial shock-like pain; and debilitating respiratory diseases like COPD, making breathing difficult, are often cited due to their profound effect on daily function, independence, and quality of life. Other tough chronic illnesses include severe autoimmune disorders, advanced heart/kidney disease, and dementia, impacting mental and physical capacity significantly.