What is prognosis

When you might want to use it: If you are diagnosed with a chronic medical condition (including mental health conditions) your loved ones might ask you how your diagnosis will affect your life. You might explain that while you might need to make some changes or face challenges, your doctor says that your overall prognosis is good. That might mean that while your life will be different, it's not expected to be shorter because of your condition.

Cirrhosis of the liver is a serious condition, causing scarring and permanent damage to the liver. Life expectancy depends on the stage and type of liver cirrhosis. The liver is the Despite its severity, the condition is not rare. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates there are The National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases state at least Keep reading to explore the life expectancy for cirrhosis by its stage, including diagnosis information and coping tips. Share on Pinterest Image credit: Getty Images Cirrhosis is a serious condition that causes scarring and permanent damage to the liver. Over time, the disease keeps the organ from working properly and eventually causes failure. Cirrhosis puts people at • bruising and bleeding easily • high blood pressure in the liver, or portal hypertension, which can then lead to enlarged veins and internal bleeding, fluid build-up in the abdomen, swelling in the lower extremities, and difficulty thinking • • increased sensitivity to medication • • • liver cancer • • • There are two stages in cirrhosis: compensated and decompensated. Compensated cirrhosis: People with compensated cirrhosis do not show symptoms, while life expectancy is around Decompensated cirrhosis: People with decompensated cirrhosis already experience symptoms and complications. Their life expectancy is greatly reduced than those with compensated cirrhosis, while experts recommend referral for a possible liver transplant in these cases. ...

The lymph system is a series of lymph nodes and vessels that move lymph fluid through the body. Lymph fluids contain infection-fighting white blood cells. Lymph nodes act as filters, capturing and destroying bacteria and viruses to prevent infection from spreading. While the lymph system typically protects your body, lymph cells called lymphocytes can become cancerous. Lymphoma definition Lymphoma is a general term for cancer that starts in the lymph system. There are two categories of lymphoma: Under these two categories, researchers have classified • bone marrow • thymus • spleen • tonsils • lymph nodes Lymphoma may not always cause symptoms in its early stages. Instead, a doctor may discover enlarged lymph nodes during a physical examination. These may feel like small, soft nodules under the skin. A person may feel the lymph nodes in the: • neck • upper chest • armpit • stomach • groin Likewise, many of the symptoms of early lymphoma are not specific. That makes them easy to overlook. These common early symptoms of lymphoma include: • • • • enlarged spleen • • • itchy • • • stomach pain • • Because the The two major lymphoma types are Hodgkin’s lymphoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, or NHL. A pathologist in the 1800s named Dr. Thomas Hodgkin identified the cells in what is now called Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Those with Hodgkin’s lymphoma have large cancerous cells called Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells. People with NHL don’t have these cells. According to the American Cancer Society...

Verywell Mind content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. We rely on the most current and reputable sources, which are cited in the text and listed at the bottom of each article. Content is fact checked after it has been edited and before publication. The terms prognosis and diagnosis are often used in mental health. While they are sometimes confused, they have different meanings. A prognosis is a prediction about the course that a condition will take. A diagnosis, on the other hand, identifies the condition that is associated with a set of symptoms. What Is a Prognosis in Mental Health? People often confuse the terms prognosis and diagnosis. The difference between the two is that while a prognosis is a guess as to the outcome of treatment, a diagnosis is actually identifying the problem and giving it a name. Simply put, a prognosis is a prediction, whereas a diagnosis states what's already there. A prognosis also makes predictions about how a condition will affect a person's quality of life. It is used as a best guess for how the condition will affect your life in the future. How a Prognosis Is Determined Healthcare professionals often rely on statistics about condition outcomes in order to make a prognosis about any given condition. Because a prognosis is based on how people tend to do on average, it means that it isn't necessarily written in stone. A d...

At our National Cancer Information Center trained Cancer Information Specialists can answer questions 24 hours a day, every day of the year to empower you with accurate, up-to-date information to help you make educated health decisions. We connect patients, caregivers, and family members with valuable services and resources. Or ask us how you can get involved and support the fight against cancer. Some of the topics we can assist with include: • Referrals to patient-related programs or resources • Donations, website, or event-related assistance • Tobacco-related topics • Volunteer opportunities • Cancer Information For medical questions, we encourage you to review our information with your doctor. Survival rates can give you an idea of what percentage of people with the same type and stage of cancer are still alive a certain amount of time (usually 5 years) after they were diagnosed. They can’t tell you how long you will live, but they may help give you a better understanding of how likely it is that your treatment will be successful. Keep in mind that survival rates are estimates and are often based on previous outcomes of large numbers of people who had a specific cancer, but they can’t predict what will happen in any particular person’s case. These statistics can be confusing and may lead you to have more questions. Ask y our doctor, who is familiar with your situation, how these numbers may apply to you . What is a 5-year relative survival rate? A relative survival rate...

Cancer survival rates or survival statistics tell you the percentage of people who survive a certain type of cancer for a specific amount of time. Cancer statistics often use an overall five-year survival rate. Survival rates are usually given in percentages. For instance, the overall five-year survival rate for bladder cancer is 77 percent. That means that of all people who have bladder cancer, 77 of every 100 are living five years after diagnosis. Conversely, 23 out of every 100 are dead within five years of a bladder cancer diagnosis. Cancer survival rates are based on research from information gathered on hundreds or thousands of people with a specific cancer. An overall survival rate includes people of all ages and health conditions who have been diagnosed with your cancer, including those diagnosed very early and those diagnosed very late. Your doctor may be able to give you more specific statistics based on your stage of cancer. For instance, 60 percent of people diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer live for at least five years after diagnosis. The five-year survival rate for people diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer that has spread (metastasized) to other areas of the body is 6 percent. Overall survival rates don't specify whether cancer survivors are still undergoing treatment at five years or if they've become cancer-free (achieved remission). Other types of survival rates that give more specific information include: • Disease-free survival rate. This is the...

After a day of orange haze that cast a pall over New York City, obscuring some of the country’s best-known landmarks with smoke from Canadian wildfires, New Yorkers and others were in store for another day of bad air Thursday. The smoke in major metro areas, including Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., was expected to continue through the day and cause unhealthy air for all groups, the National Weather Service said. “Yesterday, New Yorkers saw and smelled something that has never impacted us on this scale before,” he said at a briefing Wednesday. “From the gloom over Yankee Stadium to the smoky haze obscuring our skyline, we could see it, we could smell it and we felt it. And it was alarming and concerning.” The smoke shrouded New York City's glittering skyline Tuesday into Wednesday, accompanied by the smell of burned ash. Follow live coverage of U.S. air quality conditions and Canada’s wildfires Katie Schaller, who works in Hoboken, New Jersey, but lives in Brooklyn, could tell something was off on her commute home Tuesday night. "It is really strange," she said. "It does feel like we’re in California or somewhere that had wildfires." There are wildfires burning in the U.S., but the smoke that is affecting millions of people in the country is drifting south from Canada, where more than 400 wildfires were burning Wednesday, according to officials there. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has issued an “We expect this to be a multiple-day e...

Early-stage dementia Symptoms are mild and barely noticeable in the earliest stages of dementia. Initially, family members and coworkers may be unaware of the fact that the affected individual has problems with memory and thinking. As the condition progresses, memory and thinking problems become obvious. Affected individuals may struggle to complete routine activities, such as getting dressed or cooking a meal. Their sleeping patterns may shift; some people with dementia sleep during the day and are up frequently at night. Wandering may occur. Early stage dementia, on average, lasts approximately 2 to 4 years. Mid-stage dementia As mid-stage dementia progresses, individuals lose control of their bowel and bladder. They may forget the names of family members and long-time friends and are often completely unaware of the date and time and their current location. Mid-stage dementia, on average, lasts 2 to 10 years. Alzheimer’s Disease Prognosis Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia. In most people, Alzheimer’s disease symptoms appear after age 60; however, some people have noticeable Alzheimer’s symptoms in their 40s or 50s. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but some medications can slow the progression of symptoms. According to the National Institute on Aging, “beginning treatment early in the disease process may help preserve daily functioning for some time.” According to the Alzheimer’s Association, on average, a person with Alzheimer’s lives 4 to...