non communicable diseases

• what risk factors cant be changed

  inherited genes

  age
• what risk factors can be changed

  lifestyle choices (smoking, exercise, diet)

  substances in body (uv, tobacco smoke)
• risk factors vary from one disease to the next and some may affect more than one disease
• what is casual mechanism

  explains how one factor influences another through a biological process, if one is demonstrated there is a link between the two

  e.g. anyone can get lung cancer but smoking increases the chance of getting it
• impacts of diseases include:

  • mental health of family and individual
  • financial cost if someone cant work
  • communities taking care and funding the ill
  • costs the nation huge sums of money
  • economy suffers if working age get ill and cant work
• non communicable diseases affect far more people than communicable, so have the greatest effect on both human and economic levels
• tumour formation

  cells grow in an abnormal, uncontrolled way
• benign tumours

  growths of abnormal cells contained in one place, usually within a membrane

  • don't invade other parts of the body
  • can grow very large, very quickly
  • can be life threatening if grow to put pressure on organs
• malignant tumours

  can spread around the body, invading neighbouring healthy tissues, often referred to as cancer
• how do malignant tumours spread

  tumour splits up into bloodstream or lymphatic system

  circulate body

  may lodge in other organ

  continue to divide and form secondary tumours
• cancer cells divide more rapidly ad live longer than normal cells
• causes of cancer

  • genetic risk factors
  • mutations-chemicals in tobacco smoke (CARCINOGENS) can cause mutations that trigger formations of tumours
  • ionising radiation, upsets the cell cycle and cause tumours to form
  • 15% of cancer is caused by viral infections e.g. cervical cancer and HIV
• treating cancer

  • radiotherapy- cancer cells destroyed by targeted doses of radiation, stops mitosis but can damage healthy cells
  • chemotherapy- chemicals used to either stop cancer cells dividing or make them 'self destruct'