Introduction
A long-term condition (LTC) can be defined as ”A condition that cannot, at present, be cured but can be controlled but medication and other therapies”.
We are all living longer and so it is more common to find that people have more than one long-term condition to live with as we age. Use the slide on the chart to show how the number of long-term conditions increases with age.
People who have been diagnosed with a respiratory disease will usually have a lifelong or long term condition. Many respiratory conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) have no cure and are progressive, deteriorating over time. While others such as Asthma can affect all age groups and vary in severity and frequency from person to person.
By effectively self-managing symptoms in daily life and setting goals they want to achieve, people can learn to live with their condition. The rate of decline can be influenced by how the condition is managed both medically and by the person themselves. In other words it is possible to ‘live well’ with a long-term condition.
