What do we collectively call chronic diseases and cancer

At present, the domestic medical system does not have a specific unified term for chronic diseases and cancer. The most common classification is to classify the two into the broad category of "chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD)". However, this classification is still controversial on the clinical side.

I have been working in a community public health post for almost 7 years. When I create chronic disease files for residents, traditional chronic diseases such as hypertension and COPD must be registered. If we encounter breast cancer or prostate cancer patients whose condition is stable after surgery, we will also include them in the chronic disease follow-up list and conduct a return visit every three months to remind them to review and pay attention to their daily routine. This is actually the implementation of WHO's classification standards at the grassroots level.

But this classification cannot be generalized. Last month, an elderly man in our district was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. It took more than two months from discovery to death. This malignant tumor progresses very quickly and has a very short course. It does not have the core characteristics of chronic diseases of "hidden onset, protracted course, and long-term management." Therefore, many colleagues in the oncology department do not agree that all cancers are directly classified as chronic diseases. They feel that this one-size-fits-all classification is easy to mislead patients and is not consistent with the actual clinical situation.

In addition to professional classification, ordinary people also have many down-to-earth names in private. Several old patients who often come to our center for blood pressure measurement will call these two types of diseases "slow-care diseases" when they chat together. To put it bluntly, traditional chronic diseases are like old water pipes that have been used at home for 20 or 30 years. They are plugged and leaked from time to time. If you slowly mend them slowly, they will still last for a long time. Most cancers with a good prognosis are like a power strip that suddenly burned down at home. After you replace the bad parts, you have to be careful not to plug in high-power electrical appliances. They are essentially "old problems" that require long-term attention. This is why everyone subconsciously talks about the two together.