Health and Disease

• Diseases are a major cause of ill health
• Health is the state of physical and metal wellbeing. Diseases are often responsible for causing ill health
• Diseases can be communicable or non-communicable
• Communiable diseases are those that can spread from person to person or between animals and people. They can be caused by things like bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi
• Communicable diseases are sometimes descibed as contagious or infectious diseases. Measles and malaria are examples of communicable diseases
• Non-communicable diseases are those that cannot spread between people or between animals and people. They generally last for a long time and get worse slowly
• Asthma, cancer and coronary heart disease are examples of non-communicable diseases
• Different types of disease sometimes interact
• Sometimes diseases can interact and cause other physical and mental health issues that don't immediately seem related. Some examples are:

  • People who have problems with their immune system have an increased chance of suffering from communicable diseases such as influenza (flu), because their body is less likely to be able to defend itself against the pathogen that causes the disease
• Pathogen is just another term for a microorganism that can cause a disease when it infects its host
• Sometimes diseases can interact and cause other physical and mental health issues that don't immediately seem related. Some examples are:

  • Some types of cancer can be triggered by infection by certain viruses. E.g. infection with some types of hepatitis virus can cause long-term infections in the liver, where the virus lives in the cells. This can lead to an increased chance of developing liver cancer. Another example with HPV (human papilloma virus), which can cause cervical cancer in women
• Sometimes diseases can interact and cause other physical and mental health issues that don't immediately seem related. Some examples are:

  • Immune system reactions in the body caused by infection by a pathogen can sometimes trigger allergic reactions such as skin rashes or worsen the symptoms of asthma for asthma sufferers
  • Mental health issues such as depression can be triggered when someone is suffering from severe everyday activities or if they affect the person's life expectancy
• Factors apart from diseases can affect your health
• Factors other than diseases that can affect your health

  • Having a good, balanced diet that provides your body with everything it needs, and in the right amounts
  • The stress you are under
  • Your life situation (e.g. access to medicines, healthy food, condoms)
• Poor diet


  Can affect your physical and mental health
• Constant high stress


  Can lead to health issues
• Easy access to medicines

  Can treat illness
• Access to things that can prevent illness

  E.g. being able to buy healthy food or access condoms to prevent the transmission of some sexually transmitted diseases