Conditions that cannot be cured (2024)

Despite advances in modern medicine, sometimes medical conditions cannot be fixed. An advanced, progressive or terminal illness is an incurable, life-limiting condition that is likely to cause a person of any age to die within days, weeks, months or sometimes more than a year.

Dying is an inevitable part of life, but no two end of life situations are the same as death and dying are uniquely personal experiences.

If you have an illness that cannot be cured and will lead to the end of your life, the focus of care will shift from aiming to cure to ensuring you have the best possible quality of life.

This means a focus on:

  • symptom control
  • independence
  • emotional, spiritual and cultural wellbeing
  • planning for the future.

This is not just for people in the last days of life. Care at the end of life can be provided for a few weeks or months, or extended over several years.

It is available for everyone regardless of age, culture, background, beliefs or where you live.

Some of the common medical conditions of people requiring care at the end of life include:

  • cancer
  • dementia, including Alzheimer's disease
  • advanced lung, heart, kidney and liver disease
  • stroke and other neurological diseases, including motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis
  • Huntington’s disease
  • muscular dystrophy
  • HIV/AIDS
  • other degenerative or deteriorating conditions relating to ageing.

Find more information about treatment and care towards the end of life.

Use this tool to search for more information about specific conditions.

Care providers

People who may provide care at the end of life include:

  • doctors, including general practitioners, palliative care specialists and other specialist doctors
  • nurses, including general and specialised nurses in the community, hospitals, palliative care units, residential aged care facilities and hospices
  • allied health professionals, including social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, pharmacists, dietitians, speech pathologists and leisure therapists
  • family members and informal carers
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers
  • support workers, such as assistants in nursing, personal care attendants and diversional therapists
  • pastoral carers/chaplains from different religious, spiritual and cultural backgrounds
  • volunteers.

Planning ahead

Advance care planning is a process of planning now for future health and personal care so your values, beliefs and preferences are made known. This can help guide future decision-making if you cannot make or communicate your decisions.

Advance care planning is entirely voluntary.

It is important to carry out advance care planning before an urgent issue arises.

Find more information about planning and decisions for the end of life.

Last updated:
16 April 2018
Conditions that cannot be cured (2024)

FAQs

Conditions that cannot be cured? ›

Heart Disease:

It is the leading cause of death globally. Some of the common heart diseases are Coronary artery disease, Heart failure, Arrhythmia, etc. They usually develop when there's some heart damage, genetic and age factors, and due to an unhealthy lifestyle.

What's the worst chronic disease? ›

Heart Disease:

It is the leading cause of death globally. Some of the common heart diseases are Coronary artery disease, Heart failure, Arrhythmia, etc. They usually develop when there's some heart damage, genetic and age factors, and due to an unhealthy lifestyle.

What are the 10 chronic diseases? ›

Common chronic illnesses
  • heart disease.
  • stroke.
  • lung cancer.
  • colorectal cancer.
  • depression.
  • type 2 diabetes.
  • arthritis.
  • osteoporosis.

What diseases don't exist anymore? ›

Successfully eradicated diseases

The world has successfully eradicated two diseases: Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980. Rinderpest was declared eradicated in 2011.

What is the most difficult disease to diagnose? ›

Top 10 Hard-to-Diagnose Diseases
  • Ischemic bowel. ...
  • Sleep apnea and post-op hypoventilation. ...
  • Compartment syndrome. ...
  • Perforated or injured bowel post procedure. ...
  • Appendicitis. ...
  • Sepsis. ...
  • Lessons Learned.
  • Potential Damages. Failure to diagnose or delays in diagnosis are common causes of lawsuits against physicians.

Which disease has no cure? ›

cancer. dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. advanced lung, heart, kidney and liver disease. stroke and other neurological diseases, including motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis.

What disease killed the most ever? ›

By death toll
RankEpidemics/pandemicsDisease
1Spanish fluInfluenza A/H1N1
2Plague of JustinianBubonic plague
3HIV/AIDS pandemicHIV/AIDS
4Black DeathBubonic plague
15 more rows

What's the rarest disease to get? ›

RPI Deficiency

This is considered to be the rarest disease in the world. Ribose-5-Phosphate Isomerase (RPI), is a crucial enzyme in a metabolic process in the human body. This condition can cause muscle stiffness, seizures, and reduction of white matter in the brain.

What disease has no one ever survived? ›

Includes Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and all its variants, fatal insomnia, kuru, Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker syndrome, Variably protease-sensitive prionopathy and others. No cases of survival, invariably fatal.

What is the only extinct disease? ›

The last known natural case was in Somalia in 1977. In 1980 WHO declared smallpox eradicated – the only infectious disease to achieve this distinction. This remains among the most notable and profound public health successes in history.

What is the most feared disease? ›

The top five most-feared diseases were:
  • Cancer.
  • Alzheimer's disease.
  • Heart disease.
  • Stroke.
  • Diabetes.
May 29, 2023

What rare disease cannot be cured? ›

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS)

HGPS is an extremely rare disease that has a frequency of one in four million. Since 1886, only 130 cases have been reported in scientific literature. Currently, there is no known cure for this condition. Patients affected by this condition appear to age at an early age.

What is the most misdiagnosed disease? ›

Cancer is the most common misdiagnosis in the medical field. It is considered one of the “Big 3” diagnostic errors, together with infections and vascular events. Breast cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, and colon cancer are some of the most commonly misdiagnosed conditions.

What is the most fatal chronic disease? ›

What's the deadliest disease? Ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death around the globe. Other conditions, such as stroke, COPD, lower respiratory infections, and respiratory cancers, also account for a significant portion of deaths each year.

What is the hardest disease to live with? ›

Here's a list of debilitating diseases that significantly change the lives of millions of people:
  1. Alzheimer's and Dementia.
  2. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) – Lou Gherig's Disease. ...
  3. Parkinson's Disease. ...
  4. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) ...
  5. Scleroderma. ...
  6. Cystic Fibrosis. ...
  7. Chronic Obstructive Pulminary Disease (COPD) ...
  8. Cerebral Palsy. ...

What are the big 5 chronic diseases? ›

Chronic diseases—also known as noncommunicable diseases—generally progress slowly over a long time. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the “big 5” chronic diseases are diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases, cancer, and stroke [1].

What is the most horrible disease in the world? ›

World's deadliest diseases: 7 diseases that impacted human history
  1. Bubonic Plague.
  2. Spanish flu or Influenza.
  3. Smallpox.
  4. Cholera.
  5. HIV/AIDS.
  6. Ebola.
  7. Coronavirus.
Apr 30, 2024

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