- 43-54% of children in US have a chronic health condition 
- The most prevalent conditions are obesity, asthma, diabetes,  ADHD, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
 - The highest rates were recorded among Black and Hispanic male youth


Prevalence of Chronic Health Conditions in Children

- Studies over 30 years have shown that children and adolescents with chronic health conditions are more likely to have mental health conditions
- Young children with a chronic health condition are twice as likely to have mental health and behavioral issues as their physically healthy peers
- Youth with Type 1 Diabetes show a greater increase in depression, eating disorders, psychological distress, and anxiety

Mental Health Conditions Among Children With Chronic Health Conditions

- Treatment is important since the presence of the condition affects mental health which in turn effects condition management - this pattern can become a cycle if an individual is not careful 
- Interventions that address the emotional factors of living with chronic illness, as well as improving coping skills and stress management, can go a long way in reducing the mental strain of living with a chronic condition
- Overall, results show that CBT and family based interventions can reduce rates of depression and anxiety 


Interventions for Youth with Chronic Health Conditions

- 20-25% of youth in the US have mental health issues, however, some studies show that up to 80% of these children do not receive mental health treatment
- These children are often seen by primary care doctors and rarely referred to mental health professionals
- A lack of treatment for healthcare needs during adolescence is predictive of worse health outcomes as adults
- Stigma and structural barriers exist that prevent children from receiving necessary care such as parents not seeing health care needs as necessary and the financial burden of paying for mental health services being too high 


Access and Barriers to Mental Health Treatment

Children with chronic health conditions are much more likely to experience mental health issues. However, monetary barriers and cultural stigma often prevent youth from receiving the required care. Focusing on integrated healthcare, decreasing the cost of care, and creating policies with chronically ill children in mind will go far in improving the mental health of children with chronic health conditions. 

Conclusion for Mental Health Issues in Children and Adolescents with Chronic Illness 

Chronic illness increases the likelihood of comorbid conditions such as mental illness and other physical conditions, a lower quality of life, increased cost of healthcare, and complications from a failure to manage the condition(s) properly. 

University of Virginia, Charlottesville

- As per NIH, chronic diseases usually last for ≥3 months and can be progressive.
- As per CDC, the deadliest chronic diseases in the US (from most to least deadly) are heart disease, cancer, CLRD, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes.
- People with chronic diseases are more likely to experience severe complications of COVID-19 if they get infected.

Chronic Diseases

Delamater, A. M., Guzman, A., &amp; Aparicio, K. (2017). Mental health issues in children and adolescents with chronic illness. International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, 10(3), 163–173. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhrh-05-2017-0020 

Mental Health Issues in Children with Chronic Illness Reference

- Cancer is a term that refers to a collection of diseases in which some of the body's cells divide uncontrollably and invade surrounding tissues. 
- Cancer can metastasize, i.e., spread to other parts of the body. Metastatic cancer is hard to treat and tends to be fatal. Most cancer deaths are caused by metastasis.

This node should be a relation node, but I can't delete it since it's a root node of the "cancer" tree and it has two upvotes.


Cancer

- According to the WHO, "Cardiovascular disease is the name for the group of disorders of heart and blood vessels."  
- As per WHO, cardiovascular disease includes hypertension, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease,  peripheral vascular disease, heart failure, rheumatic heart disease, congenital heart disease, and cardiomyopathies. 
- Cardiovascular disease is a risk factor for severe COVID-19, and COVID-19 causes cardiovascular complications. 

Cardiovascular disease 

Previous lung disease is a risk factor for mortality in patients with COVID-19. Older age, male gender, home oxygen therapy, and respiratory failure on admission were associated with an increased mortality. 

lung disease

- CKD, also known as chronic renal disease,  is a chronic, non-communicable, irreversible condition where kidney function gradually declines over time.
- However, CKD progression can be slowed down dramatically or even stopped.
- The earlier stages of CKD are usually asymptomatic.
- Diabetes and high blood pressure cause almost two-thirds of CKD cases.
- Source: https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/about-chronic-kidney-disease

Chronic Kidney Disease

During the COVID-19 era the regular treatment and communication between physicians and patients regarding preexisting comorbidities has been disrupted. New guidelines and safety precautions must be put in place in order for physicians to still treat their patients and treat them through the use of telehealth or other means. While there are a lot of similarities between new communication policies being implemented across different areas of medicine, there are also many differences due to comorbidity specific criteria which facilitates different levels of involvement and communication between physicians and patients.


The comorbidities addressed under this node include:
- Cancer
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Digestive Diseases
- Elective Surgeries
- Liver Diseases
- Psychological Disorders
- Renal Diseases

Changes to COVID-19 Patient Comorbidity Treatment and Communication

Diabetes is a collection of diseases in which blood glucose levels (i.e., blood sugar) is too high. The most common types of diabetes are type II diabetes, type I diabetes, gestational diabetes, and prediabetes.



Diabetes

- Alzheimer's disease is a progressive chronic disease. It's "a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and behavior"; over time, these symptoms progressively interfere with daily tasks.
- It's the 6th leading cause of death. Current treatments can alleviate the symptoms but can't stop the progression of Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's Disease

Neurodegenerative diseases refers to neurological diseases caused by neuronal death or deterioration due to many factors, including protein aggregation/misfolding, apoptosis, and mitochondrial dysfunction. 

Neurodegenerative Diseases

- Motivation
- Goal setting
- Problem Solving (overcoming barriers to positive change)
- Emotional Management
- Health Psychology

Link between Psychology and Chronic Diseases

Since mindfulness meditation can alleviate symptoms of distress, pain, and chronic disease, it can be used to treat hallucinations and delusions experienced by schizophrenic patients. 

What Symptoms Mindfulness Meditation can help Treat in Patients with Severe Schizophrenia

- Cystic fibrosis
- Diabetes
- Multiple sclerosis
- Cancers
- AIDS
- Hemophilia
- Epilepsy
- Hepatitis
- Hyperhidrosis
- Musculoskeletal Disorders
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Long COVID

List of Medical Disabilities

Abnormally excessive sweating that is often unrelated to body temperature nor exercise. Known as the silent disorder, this is a widespread condition that affects almost 3% of the population. Currently, solutions to alleviate the condition either serve as temporary solutions or cause many other side effects.

Hyperhidrosis

"Chronic pain management" or "pain management" typically refers to the practice of employing pain killing medicines, psychological therapy/ practices, and/ or managing/ controlling the environment of the patient/ sufferer in order to lessen or mitigate the pain they feel or else make the pain in question more manageable.

Chronic Pain Management

Chronic pain is often a symptom of chronic conditions/ disabilities, though not always. In the medical sphere, "chronic pain" is defined as pain that may be constant in some sense of come and go. Or, in the case of conditions that may have a cure or may "heal", chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts longer than three to six months.

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