Illness trajectory or course of illness is a phrase that is sometimes used in medicine. It describes the ‘usual’ pattern that diseases take from the time of diagnosis to the time of death. For some life-limiting diseases, the time from diagnosis to death is very short - occasionally a matter of weeks. For other illnesses, symptoms can take months or even years to evolve and slowly progress.
 
Sometimes with treatment, especially cancer treatments, the path can fluctuate. For example, cancer treatments may shrink a tumour and the person will feel well for a period. But if symptoms return, there is another cycle of being unwell and further treatment if appropriate. A new plateau is achieved.

Understanding the path or pattern of an illness can assist people with important decisions regarding employment, legal matters, emotional and spiritual issues. They may also want to discuss advance care planning.

Understanding the prognosis, that is whether the disease can be cured or only stabilised for periods, can help people understand their illness. This is also true of the goal of treatment - whether it is to slow progress of the disease or to treat a symptom. It can assist with a realistic appraisal of just what kind of treatment will improve the quality of remaining life.

Some people will want to know exactly what their prognosis is. This is not easy to answer. Each person is an individual, and each person will respond differently to a disease or to a treatment. This means that doctors can only answer based on their experience and on what they know usually happens in these circumstances. Some doctors do not like to give a prognosis because it is difficult to be accurate and individuals can be distressed if the prognosis that is given is not correct.

 

Related CareSearch pages
Advance care planning
Changes over time
Quality of life
 

This page was created on 26 May 2009 and is due for review in May 2011