Final answer:
If a disease isn't cured, the individual may experience worsening symptoms, health complications, spread of infection, and in some cases, death. Chronic infectious diseases necessitate ongoing treatment and management, while genetic diseases are challenging to treat due to genomic abnormalities. Despite treatment advances, the persistence of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS signifies the need for constant vigilance in disease management.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a disease isn't cured, the consequences can vary depending on the nature of the illness. Infectious diseases that go untreated might lead to severe health complications, spread to others, and sometimes result in death. Chronic diseases, such as type 1 diabetes or cardiovascular conditions, often require lifelong management with medication to control symptoms and prevent further damage to the body. For certain infectious diseases like herpes and AIDS caused by pathogens that the body cannot eliminate, they become chronic, necessitating ongoing treatment to manage symptoms. Furthermore, emerging diseases, including dengue fever and cholera, have a capacity to re-emerge and become more virulent, posing a significant global health challenge. Lastly, genetic diseases such as SCID arise from mutations, making them challenging to treat since they involve abnormalities at the genomic level. Even with diseases like HIV/AIDS which can be managed with highly active antiretroviral therapy, the virus persists in immune cells and can resurge if treatment is discontinued. This underscores the continuous effort needed to monitor, treat, and prevent diseases from causing widespread harm.