A chronic disease is a disease that can be improved by medication; as a rule, however cannot be cured.  A chronic disease cannot be fully cured and requires constant treatment and medical supervision.

It is not a necessary consequence of a chronic disease that the social participation of the person will be impaired. The extent to which people who suffer from chronic diseases are impaired in their social participation, rather depends on the appearance of the chronic disease, the severity and the society.

Some chronic diseases cause little or no health problems or can be treated well. For example a person infected with HIV or with epilepsy is only slightly or not at all restricted in pursuing their profession or participating socially.