One general misconception is that 'we cure illness.' This is rarely the case, most treatments are about managing symptoms, postponing morbidity/mortality, and improving quality of life. This is true for the vast majority of chronic illnesses.

We could consider t2 diabetes. It may be 'reversed' by dietary means or medication, but we also must consider that the term encapsulates a large range of processes including vascular damage, nerve damage and metabolic changes that may not be reversible.

Chronic illness, for the most part, is a process driven by time and exposure to a maladaptive physiological process, either influenced by environment/action (such as obesity,) or something internal (genetics, rheumatoid disease.)

From a diagnostic standpoint, these entities only become apparent when the results of the disease process become recogniseable to the patient (symptoms or signs) or through screening (faecal occult blood, BP measurements.) The damage is already done to this point.

Some of this damage may be reversible, but most is hamstrung into progression at a lower rate. When we accept that treatment is about this, in the appropriate cases, we can better understand how medicine works and how to formulate our expectations accordingly.

Part of this is realising that medication is only part of treatment, we must also address environmental and personal aspects of what can perpetuate chronic disease, or at least exacerbate impact. For example, exercise and dietary change in hypertension alongside ramipril.

The dictum of relevance is the concept that over time all survival odds reduce to 0. Medicine stacks the odds better in our favour for longer.

Most people with chronic illness recognise this, but many younger do not. The concept of 'invincibility' of youth is only a relative one, yes the youth are better at adapting, but the changes associated with long-term illness start young and become forced by habit.

If we consider smoking for example, stopping does reduce personal risk of developing cancer/cardiovascular/respiratory illness, but not to a level of someone who has never smoked. Treatments and screening take this into account.

This is all extremely complicated when addressing specific illnesses and would require 5000000 tweets to even make a dent, but the simple thing is to realise that we need to reconsider our perspectives and take personal responsibility for doing so, and our actions.

This does not mean disease is our fault, but realising that we can have a role in preventing/delaying onset of illness, slowing illness and reducing morbidity/mortality.