An abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism is called as a disease. It is a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune diseases.

Different types of Diseases

There are different types of diseases; they are Infectious diseases, contagious diseases, Foodborne illness, Communicable diseases, Non-communicable diseases, Airborne diseases, Lifestyle diseases, Mental disorders, Organic disease which is caused by a physical or physiological change to some tissue or organ of the body, Acute disease such as common cold, Chronic disease such as cancer, Refractory disease, Progressive disease for example organ failure, Localized disease for example eye infection, Disseminated disease that spread to other body parts such as cancer and Systemic disease that affects the entire body such as influenza or high blood pressure.

Medical therapies or treatments are efforts to cure or improve a disease or other health problem.

What are the symptoms and causes for different kinds of diseases?

Chronic kidney disease: Is a disease which is also known as chronic renal disease, is a progressive loss in renal function over a period of months or years. The symptoms of worsening kidney function are non-specific, feeling generally unwell and experiencing a reduced appetite. Chronic kidney disease is identified by a blood test for creatinine. The most common causes of kidney disease are diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and glomerulonephritis.

Cardiovascular disease: It is a disease that involves the heart or blood vessels i.e. arteries, capillaries and veins.  Cardiovascular disease is caused due to atherosclerosis and/or hypertension, obesity, diabetes, family history, tobacco smoking, high alcohol intake, high blood pressure, high cholesterol in the body and aging. ECG is one way to find out about the presence of the disease in a person.

Arthritis: It is a form of a joint disease which involves inflammation of one or more joints. Pain is often a constant and may be localized to the joint affected. Common symptoms for all arthritis disorders include varied levels of pain, swelling, joint stiffness, and sometimes a constant ache around the joint. It is caused because of muscle weakness, loss of flexibility and lack of exercise. It can be diagnosed by clinical examination from an appropriate health professional.

AIDS: Human immunodeficiency virus infection also known as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome i.e. AIDS is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus i.e. HIV. It is generally followed by a prolonged period without symptoms. As the illness progresses, people are more likely to get infections. HIV is transmitted primarily through unprotected sexual intercourse, contaminated blood transfusions and hypodermic needles and from mother to child during pregnancy.   

Medical Diseases Current Trends

As per the reports given by WHO, diabetes cases in adults will more than double globally from 143 million in 1997 to 300 million by 2025, mainly because of dietary and other lifestyle factors.

WHO reports say that , by 2025 there will be 5 million deaths among children under five - 97% of them in the developing world, and most of them due to infectious diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoea, combined with malnutrition.

Major Industry Players

Some of the major medicine global industry players are Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Bayer HealthCare, and Wyeth etc.