While incredible progress is made in medicine every single day, there are still some diseases and viruses that remain a mystery to doctors and scientists everywhere. It’s incredible that in just 30 years, contracting HIV is no longer a death sentence, tuberculosis can be cured and lupus can be treated. However, there is still a long way to go before the world is rid of diseases. The following eight still don’t have a cure. 1. Polio. Poliomyelitis, more commonly known as Polio, has been around for thousands of years. It’s an acute infectious viral disease that affects the nervous system, which usually affects the legs and lead to paralysis. In most cases, first symptoms are headaches, nausea, fever, fatigue and muscle pains. It usually spreads through contaminated food and water, and the disease manifests itself especially in children below the age of five. Currently, a substantial number of children in African and South Asian countries are continuing to be paralized as a direct consequence of the disease. In 1952, The United States saw 57,628 cases throughout the nation, making it the country’s biggest polio outbreak ever. As far as a cure is concerned, Polio is incurable. However, there is a vaccination, which has become one of the most important vaccinations to give to children. 2. Ebola. Ebola is most known for the huge epidemic that broke out in 2014 in West Africa. It’s named after the Ebola river in Africa, from where it is said to have originated in 1976. Ebola is a virus of the Filoviridae that cause epidemic human disease. It’s characterized by extreme fever and profuse haemorrhaging, which is often fatal. To this day, despite extensive research, there is still no cure for this lethal disease. The fatality rate for humans infected with ebola is 90%. 3. Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is one of the most intriguing and complicated mental disorders. It’s a mental illness that disables the patient to logically distinguish reality from fantasy. Doctors are puzzled by it, as the disease has no defining medical tests. Common symptoms of the disorder include losing the ability to think rationally, delusions, hallucinations, non-coherence of thought and speech and losing the ability to recognize real world people. As it cannot be exactly and medically diagnosed, it cannot be cured. It’s often treated with medication, but this only treats some of the symptoms. 4. HIV/AIDS. Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is one of the world’s five most lethal incurable diseases. It’s caused when someone is infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). AIDS is a direct result from HIV, therefore people don’t contract AIDS, they contract HIV. This virus spreads through any body fluids, and can be passed on through unprotected sex or unsterilized syringes. The virus takes down the patient’s immune system, which makes them prone to potential infections. It’s been almost 30 years since AIDS was first identified, and it remains a killer, taking a huge toll on the lives of huge populations. According to the UN, 38 million people are living with HIV, 5 million people are infected annually, and about 3 million people die from AIDS each year. Although there is a treatment for HIV patients called Antiretroviral therapy, which keeps the HIV virus from multiplying and gives CD-4 cells a better chance, there is still no cure for HIV or AIDS. 5. Diabetes. With obesity being a bigger problem than ever, diabetes seems to be everywhere. It has become so common people barely panic anymore when they’re diagnosed with it. However, the disease is still dangerous. Sure, it’s not directly lethal, but it can cause blindness, cardiac arrest, or you could even lose a limb. Diabetes is a chronic disorder of the carbohydrate metabolism that affects the role of hormone insulin in the body and is characterized by high levels of sugar in the body. It generally occurs in two forms: Type I and Type II. Type I, or insulin-dependent diabetes, affects the ability of the pancreas to produce insulin and requires the patient to take hormone injections daily. Type II, or non-insulin-dependent diabetes, is the more common form. It generally develops in overweight people and is, in some cases, reversible. 6. Asthma. Asthma sounds common, but is actually more dangerous than people realize. It’s a chronic lung disease in which inflamed airways become swollen and extremely sensitive. It causes wheezing, chest tightness, coughing and breathlessness. The airways become hypersensitive to a variety of stimuli such as pollen, air pollution, smoke, weather conditions and sometimes exercise. When a patient breathes, the muscles around the airways rhythmically expand and contract. While contracting, the airways get narrower, keeping air from flowing into the lungs. Although it’s commonly treated with inhalers, there is no cure for it. 7. Cancer. Simply put, cancer is caused by abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade other parts of the body. It’s a broad group of diseases, it comes in many forms, and it affects many different areas of the human body. This could be part of the reason why there still is no cure for the second leading cause of death in The United States. The disease affects people everywhere, so much in fact, that more than one in three people are estimated to develop cancer at some point in their lifetime. While cancer can be attacked, in some cases removed, and treated, there still is no cure. 8. Alzheimer’s disease. Heartbreaking for those who suffer from it and those around them, Alzheimer’s disease remains a huge mystery to doctors and scientists. It’s actually a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease, which means dementia symptoms gradually worsen over time. In the early stages, there is some mild memory loss, but with late-stage Alzheimer’s, patients lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment. They rarely have lucid moments. Although symptoms can be treated to a certain extent, they still cannot be stopped from progressing, and the disease can’t be cured or prevented. Source
