Interplay between sepsis and chronic health

•Severe sepsis worsens chronic health and causes physical and cognitive impairment.•A bidirectional relationship exists between chronic diseases and sepsis.•Various factors during different phases of sepsis affect this relationship.

Severe sepsis is associated with high short-term mortality. Several studies suggest that severe sepsis also worsens health status and increases disability among survivors. As the incidence of severe sepsis increases, and advances in critical care reduce the short-term mortality, the number of individuals who are at risk for poor long-term outcomes will increase. Recent studies suggest that the relationship between sepsis and chronic health may be bidirectional; however, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain poorly understood. Here we review the epidemiologic studies examining the interplay between sepsis and chronic health and propose a conceptual model, which has implications for preclinical and human study design.