Diseases are said to be incurable in common parlance. This very general term actually encompasses a very wide variety of situations. The point on incurable diseases.
What is an incurable disease?
“The term incurable stricto sensu means that cannot be cured“, informs Doctor Ségolène Perruchio, Head of the Palliative Care Department, who stresses that this term is not used by doctors. You have to differentiate an incurable disease that cannot be treated (or which can no longer be treated, such as a terminal cancer for which there is no longer any therapeutic resource) and an incurable disease for which there is a treatment. “This will not cure the disease but treat the symptoms or slow down its evolution”says Dr. Perruchio. Incurable disease is a very broad term that can include diseases with a reduced or very reduced life expectancy (eg Charcot’s disease with a life expectancy of 3 to 5 years) and others that progress more slowly (such as multiple sclerosis).
Examples of Incurable Heart Disease
There are a number of incurable diseases of the heart, including arterial hypertension (HTA) which can be treated but cannot be cured most of the time. “heart failure cannot be cured in the majority of cases. The purpose of the processing is to prevent decompensation”gives as another example Dr. Perruchio.
Examples of incurable lung disease
In incurable pulmonary diseases, we can cite the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis, but also asthmaa disease that can be controlled but not cured.
Examples of Incurable Brain Disease
A certain number of neurodegenerative diseases are currently incurable: Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s disease, Charcot’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple sclerosis.
Is an incurable disease necessarily fatal?
Incurable does not mean fatal. There are incurable diseases that benefit from a treatment that will allow them to live for a long time, even a very long time. Dr. Perruchio gives us the example of thearterial hypertension (HTA) and diabetes, which are diseases that we do not know how to cure but for which there are treatments. She also points out that there are fewer and fewer diseases for which there is no treatment. “Even in the case of metastasized and therefore incurable cancers, there are now treatments that can allow people to live for several years.“informs Dr. Perruchio.
“The announcement of an incurable disease is necessarily an important moment in the life of a patient: there is a “before” in which medicine is not part of our life and an “after” which integrates medical surveillance, possibly treatments and which asks to live with the idea that his disease can worsen or will worsen” informs Ségolène Perruchio who insists on the importance of the announcement device. “The nursing staff must be aware of the brutality of the announcement for a patient and know how to accompany it” she insists. Psychological follow-up can be useful to accompany a person with an incurable disease, especially if it greatly reduces life expectancy.
Thanks to Doctor Ségolène Perruchio, Head of the Palliative Care Department, Rives de Seine Hospital Center, Puteaux Site