Although usage in medical contexts does overlap, in general cure is used in more absolute ways to refer to a complete restoration of health (“the disease has no cure”), whereas treatment most often refers to a process that leads to an improvement in health (“the most effective treatment”) that may or may not include the complete elimination of disease or consequences of injury.
What is the difference between cure and treatment?
Although usage in medical contexts does overlap, in general cure is used in more absolute ways to refer to a complete restoration of health (“the disease has no cure”), whereas treatment most often refers to a process that leads to an improvement in health (“the most effective treatment”) that may or may not include the complete elimination of disease or consequences of injury.
What does it mean when a disease is cured?
The term "cure" means that, after medical treatment, the patient no longer has that particular condition anymore. Some diseases can be cured. Others, like hepatitis B, have no cure. The person will always have the condition, but medical treatments can help to manage the disease. Medical professionals use medicine, therapy, surgery, and other treatments to help lessen the …
What are treatments for diseases that can't be cured?
When a disease can’t be cured, doctors often use treatments to help control it. For example, one type of diabetes happens when the pancreas does not make enough insulin to get glucose into cells where it’s needed. Doctors treat people with diabetes using insulin injections and other methods so they can continue to live normal lives.
What does treatable but not curable cancer mean?
· The term "cure" means that, after medical treatment, the patient no longer has that particular condition anymore. Some diseases can be cured. Others, like hepatitis B, have no cure. Medical professionals use medicine, therapy, surgery, and other treatments to help lessen the symptoms and effects of a disease.
What does it mean when something Cannot be cured?
Something incurable can't be fixed or healed. Incurable diseases can sometimes be lived with, but they can't be cured. An incurable crush on a movie star means there's no getting over it, and being diagnosed with an incurable illness is always bad news, because no medicine can eliminate it.
Can treatment be cured?
The term "cure" means that, after medical treatment, the patient no longer has that particular condition anymore. Some diseases can be cured. Others, like hepatitis B, have no cure. The person will always have the condition, but medical treatments can help to manage the disease.
What does cure mean in medicine?
To heal or restore health; a treatment to restore health.
What are diseases that can be treated but not cured?
Currently, there are 4 sexually transmitted infections (STIs or STDs) that are not curable: herpes (HSV), hepatitis B (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and human papillomavirus (HPV).
What is a treatment vs cure?
A treatment improves a condition and improves the patient's quality of life, while a cure would completely remove the disease from the patient.
What's the difference between treatable and curable?
For example, some contrasted treatability with curability, explaining that the word “treatable” implies that the intervention cannot cure a disease (i.e., the disease is “treatable,” but not “curable”): “When I imagine a physician using the term 'treatable,' it means he's trying not to use the term 'incurable.
Can any disease be cured?
That question has a simple answer with a long explanation: no, it technically cannot be cured, but it can be prevented, treated, and even eradicated through vaccines, research, and community mobilization. Can viruses be cured? We'll get into this later, but viruses fall under the infectious disease umbrella. So, no.
How long does it take to find a cure for a disease?
Creating a new medicine is a long and rigorous process, and it can take up to 15 years to progress from a promising idea in the research laboratory through clinical development to a medicine receiving approval from regulators.
What's the difference between prevention and cure?
For preventive healthcare, health is a positive, holistic notion that needs you need to maintain and improve. It focuses on the overall quality of life and health. b. With curative medicine, it focuses on removing the disease which is the hindrance to good health.
What makes a disease incurable?
What are Incurable Diseases? Incurable diseases are disorders of infectious, non-infectious, genetic, metabolic, neoplastic or autoimmune nature that do not currently have a cure. Incurable diseases include rare diseases which in 80% of cases are genetic in nature.
How many uncured diseases are there?
She also pointed to a World Health Organization statement that “scientists currently estimate that over 10,000 of human diseases are known to be monogenic,” meaning involving a single gene.
What's the difference between vaccine and cure?
A cure, on the other hand, treats diseases or infections differently than a vaccine by attacking an illness after a person has already contracted it. “It's only after someone gets sick that we would, or even could, 'cure' them,” says Kennedy.
What does it mean to cure a disease?
The term "cure" means that, after medical treatment, the patient no longer has that particular condition anymore. Some diseases can be cured. Others, like hepatitis B, have no cure. The person will always have the condition, but medical treatments can help to manage the disease.
Can you cure diabetes with insulin?
Doctors treat people with diabetes using insulin injections and other methods so they can continue to live normal lives. But right now there's no cure for diabetes. So some people need insulin treatments for the rest of their lives. The good news is that researchers are constantly coming up with advances in medicine.
Is hypertension a cure?
However, many medical conditions, such as hypertension, have no cures – and patient recovery is not common. Treatment, however, is a process that looks at other underlying risks that may contribute to high blood pressure. The word treatment is used in health care to imply a process to manage the disease or disorder and improve outcomes.
Can high blood pressure be cured?
However, until the patient learns to manage their diet, stress or other risks, they are unlikely to cure their high blood pressure. The cure is viewed as just a quick solution – that’s the core difference. Cure implies there is a certainty that a medical condition will not be present after a medical intervention.
What is the treatment for hypertension?
The treatment for hypertension includes lifestyle changes and medications. The cure for hypertension includes lifestyle changes and medications. Reading the above sentences, you can see how the differences in the meaning of these words can change expectations of health outcomes.
Is medicine black and white?
Medicine isn’t black and white. Even clinicians equipped with the best available tools don’t always have the answers to immediately ‘fix’ an injury or condition. It helps to understand that medical conditions or injuries are multifactorial – often affecting multiple parts of the body.
What is gene therapy?
Also, in the 20th century, gene therapy has been used to target genes that cause disease. Looking back on the history of medicine, there seems to be a common thread: that medical practice was intended to provide treatment and not cure.
Why is precision important in medicine?
Even clinicians equipped with the best available tools don’t always have the answers to immediately ‘fix’ an injury or condition. It helps to understand that medical conditions or injuries are multifactorial – often affecting multiple parts of the body.
What is the history of medicine?
The history of medicine also shows that patients were examined in a way that is still practised in medicine today. That is, to check symptoms, give a diagnosis and administer a treatment. These beliefs continued in Europe and well into the Middle Ages, though to modern medicine in the 19th century.
What does it mean to cure a disease?
The term “cure” means that, after medical treatment, the patient no longer has that particular condition anymore. Some diseases can be cured. Others, like hepatitis B, have no cure. The person will always have the condition, but medical treatments can help to manage the disease.
Can you cure diabetes with insulin?
Doctors treat people with diabetes using insulin injections and other methods so they can continue to live normal lives. But right now there’s no cure for diabetes. So some people need insulin treatments for the rest of their lives. The good news is that researchers are constantly coming up with advances in medicine.
Can diabetes be treated with insulin?
For example, one type of diabetes happens when the pancreas does not make enough insulin to get glucose into cells where it’s needed. Doctors treat people with diabetes using insulin injections and other methods so they can continue to live normal lives. But right now there’s no cure for diabetes.
What does "cure" mean in medical terms?
Still, for our purposes, we’ll rely on the Merriam-Webster definition of cure, which is “recovery or relief from a disease,” or, “a complete or permanent solution or remedy.”.
What is a cure?
A “cure” is a remedy for a disease that eliminates the disease. A cure can work on an individual level or on a group level. If a cure works on a group level to the extent that there is no trace of disease left in the population, we can say the cure eradicated the disease. In a Psychology Today article on the difference between healing and curing, ...
Is lyme disease curable?
Lyme disease, which is another insect-borne illness, is also curable. According to Daniel Kuritzkes, MD, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, “Lyme disease is always curable.”.
Is gout a curable disease?
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases reveals that the most common kind of arthritic disease, gout, is a curable disease. There are a number of curable diseases. However, like tuberculosis, for one reason or another, many curable diseases continue to be a problem.
What is a disease?
According to Merriam-Webster, a disease is a condition that “impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms.”. A disorder, on the other hand, has to do with abnormal versus normal functioning of the body.
How often does malaria kill a child?
Malaria is a curable disease that kills a child every 45 seconds, with 90 percent of the deaths occurring in Africa, where mosquitoes transmit malaria parasites. The CDC points out that curing malaria is a matter of diagnosing and treating the disease promptly and correctly.
What is incurable condition?
An incurable condition is a health issue the medical community has not been able to find a solution to yet. For example, a person’s leg could be badly broken and shattered to the extent that no amount of surgery can heal it. This person would have an incurable condition that requires them to get a prosthetic leg.
What is the treatment for cancer?
When you are diagnosed with cancer, you will be assigned to a course of treatment. This can be chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, stem cell transplant, and any new therapies yet to be developed. After treatment completion, a period of time is allowed to go by so the maximum effect is achieved, with the tumor shrinking or ...
What does it mean when you have a complete response?
Complete response doesn't necessarily mean that you are cured, but it is the best result that can be reported. It means the cancerous tumor is now gone and there is no evidence of disease. Some doctors also use terms like no evidence of disease (NED), complete remission, or complete regression when referring to complete response to cancer treatment ...
Can cancer be cured?
Whether a person’s cancer can be cured depends on the type and stage of the cancer, the type of treatment they can get, and other factors. Some cancers are more likely to be cured than others. But each cancer needs to be treated differently. There isn’t one cure for cancer.
Is cancer in remission?
More often, when treatment appears to be successful, doctors will say the cancer is “in remission,” rather than “cured.”. Remission is a period of time when the cancer is responding to treatment or is under control. Some people think that remission means the cancer has been cured, but that may not be the case.
Can cancer come back?
It’s rare that a doctor can be sure that cancer will never come back. In most cases it takes time to know if the cancer might come back. But, the longer a person is cancer free, the better the chance that the cancer will not come back. More often, when treatment appears to be successful, doctors will say the cancer is “in remission,” rather ...
How long does a cancer remission last?
Remissions can last anywhere from weeks to years. Treatment may or may not continue during a remission, depending on the type of cancer. Complete remissions may go on for years and, over time, the cancer may be thought to be cured. If the cancer returns ( recurrence ), another remission may be possible with more treatment.
How long do people live with cancer?
Remember though, that treatment lasts longer for some people, and not everyone completes treatment. Some people may live for many years with cancer as a chronic disease. Others who are impacted, like family and friends, might also sometimes be considered cancer survivors.
What does it mean to be a cancer survivor?
Being a cancer survivor means different things for different people. Some people will be cancer free after treatment but may experience late and long term side effects of treatment. Others may be cancer free after treatment but have their cancer come back and need to be treated again.
What is the definition of statistics?
Statistics are numbers that describe what happens to large groups of people with the same diagnosis. Statistics cannot be applied to a specific person but may give some idea of what to expect. Here are some statistics that are used for cancer: Survival rate: the percentage of people who are alive at a certain time after diagnosis. ...
Can you have depression if you have been treated?
Taking an antidepressant or going to psychological counseling (psychotherapy) eases depression symptoms for most people. But with treatment-resistant depression, standard treatments aren't enough.
Can you stop drinking alcohol and drugs?
In the long run, alcohol and drugs worsen depression and make it harder to treat. If you can't stop drinking alcohol or using drugs on your own , talk to your doctor or mental health professional. Depression treatment may be unsuccessful until you address your substance use. Manage stress.
What type of therapy is used to help with depression?
Interpersonal psychotherapy focuses on resolving relationship issues that may contribute to your depression. Family or marital therapy. This type of therapy involves family members or your spouse or partner in counseling. Working out stress in your relationships can help with depression.
How does psychotherapy help with depression?
For many people, psychotherapy combined with medication works best. It can help identify underlying concerns that may be adding to your depression. In working with your therapist, you can also learn specific behaviors and strategies to overcome your depression. For example, psychotherapy can help you:
Can bipolar disorder cause depression?
Consider a diagnosis of another mental health condition, such as bipolar disorder, which can cause or worsen depression and may require different treatment; dysthymia, a mild but long-term (chronic) form of depression; or a personality disorder that contributes to the depression not getting better.
Does ECT help with depression?
Although there are potential side effects, such as temporary confusion or temporary memory loss, a series of ECT treatments may provide significant relief of severe depression. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS).
Can antidepressants help with depression?
Taking an antidepressant or going to psychological counseling (psychotherapy) eases depression symptoms for most people. But with treatment-resistant depression, standard treatments aren't enough. They may not help much at all, or your symptoms may improve, only to keep coming back. If your primary care doctor prescribed antidepressants ...
Can cancer be cured?
Commonly, years after the cancer has gone into remission, if it has not returned (or relapsed), it is said to have been cured. However, a secondary cancer could occur if the same conditions that triggered the first are present.
Can lymphoma be cured?
A person diagnosed with an aggressive lymphoma whose cancer achieves remission is most likely to have been cured if the cancer has not returned in two years. This is because any residual lymphoma would be expected to regrow rapidly. The opposite is the case for breast cancer.
Is cancer in remission?
Your cancer is in complete remission when, after treatment, no cancer can be detected . The term “cure” can only be used in hindsight. Commonly, years after the cancer has gone into remission, if it has not returned (or relapsed), it is said to have been cured. However, a secondary cancer could occur if the same conditions ...
How many cancer cells are there in 1 cm?
But a cancer 1cm across on a scan has about 100 million cancer cells; even a 0.5cm cancer has about 10 million cells. A 1mm cancer, which would not show up on scans, has 100,000 cancer cells. So, even when a cancer can no longer be seen and is no longer causing symptoms, there can still be millions of cells remaining.
What is CML in blood test?
Better still, chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) – a rare form of leukaemia – has a characteristic genetic abnormality, which a very sensitive blood test can detect. This is helpful in determining whether a treatment has eradicated microscopic disease.
Can chemotherapy kill cancer cells?
It is common to use multiple types of treatment – surgery, radiotherapy or drug therapy – to improve the chances of a cure. Chemotherapy may not be able to kill all of a cancer because it kills cells only when they are dividing, which means resting cells escape. Only a percentage of cells are dividing at any one time.
Can a chest X-ray detect breast cancer?
But it’s difficult to know if that’s the case due to our inability to detect small amounts of cancer. A skilled specialist may be able to feel a breast lump that is half-a-centimetre wide. A plain chest X-ray can be expected to detect cancers from 1cm wide. And a CT scan will detect smaller cancers to a few millimetres.
Exploring The Difference Between Cure and Treatment Accurately
- Here’s an example of both cure and treatment being used in the same sentence: 1. The treatment for hypertension includes lifestyle changes and medications. 2. The cure for hypertension includes lifestyle changes and medications. Reading the above sentences, you can see how the differences in the meaning of these words can change expectations of hea...
The Importance of Precision
- Medicine isn’t black and white. Even clinicians equipped with the best available tools don’t always have the answers to immediately ‘fix’ an injury or condition. It helps to understand that medical conditions or injuries are multifactorial – often affecting multiple parts of the body. Some clinical treatment options bring uncertainty and no guarantee the condition will go away. Your health wri…
Roots of Treatment in Medical History
- Many medical termsusually have historical roots – and the word treatment has been used from ancient times. A variety of cultural traditions from ancient Greece (four humours in the body), medieval Islam, India (Ayuverda) and China (Traditional Chinese Medicine) all looked at health and disease by achieving a balance in the body using a range of treatments (as opposed to a qui…