A degenerative disease is any disease that detrimentally affects the function or structure of tissue or an organ. Generally, this condition tends to cause progressive health deterioration over time.
Degenerative disease is sometimes used interchangeably with degenerative nerve disease. Yet, a degenerative disease may not always involve your nervous system. For instance, there are some that only degenerate bone or the vascular system.
There are hundreds of degenerative diseases, but here’s a couple of examples:
- IBD
- ALS
- diabetes
- prostatitis
- osteoporosis
- osteoarthritis
- heart disease
- atherosclerosis
- multiple sclerosis
- rheumatoid arthritis
- Tay-Sachs disease
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Parkinson’s disease
- multisystem atrophy
- Huntington’s disease
- degenerative disc disease
Often, the cause of a degenerative disease is unknown. However, some of the known risks include:
- aging
- tumor
- genetics
- smoking
- infection
- depression
- head trauma
- hypertension
- oxidative stress
- chemical exposure
- vitamin deficiencies
- metabolic condition
- endocrine condition
- chronic inflammation
- autoimmune disorder
At this time, many degenerative diseases have no cure. Although, treatments are available to keep you comfortable.