Non-communicable diseases

    Cards (13)

    • Risk factor
      Any aspect of your lifestyle or substance in your body that can increase the risk of a disease developing
    • Risk factors

      Some cause specific diseases, other diseases are caused by multiple factors interacting
    • Risk factors and associated diseases
      • Obesity and amount of exercise - Type 2 diabetes
      • Alcohol - Cardiovascular diseases, impaired liver function, impaired brain function, altered development of unborn babies
      • Smoking - Lung disease and cancers, altered development of unborn babies
      • Carcinogens (e.g. ionising radiation) and genetic risk factors - Cancers
    • Effects of risk factors
      • Body does not respond properly to insulin production, so blood glucose levels cannot be controlled
      • Increased blood cholesterol can lead to coronary heart disease
      • Long-term alcohol use causes liver cirrhosis, meaning the liver cannot remove toxins from the body or produce sufficient
      • Damages the brain and can cause anxiety and depression
      • Alcohol can pass through the placenta, risking miscarriages, premature births, and birth defects
      • Cigarettes contain carcinogens, which can cause cancers
      • Chemicals can pass through the placenta, risking premature births and birth defects
    • Cancer
      • Result of changes in cells that lead to uncontrolled growth and division by mitosis
      • Rapid division of abnormal cells can form a tumour
      • Malignant tumours are cancerous tumours that invade neighbouring tissues and spread to other parts of the body in the blood, forming secondary tumours
      • Benign tumours are non-cancerous tumours that do not spread in the body
    • Treatment of non-communicable diseases linked to lifestyle risk factors such as poor diet, drinking alcohol, and smoking can be very costly, both to individuals and to the Government
    • A high incidence of these lifestyle risk factors can cause high rates of non-communicable diseases in a population
    • Key terms
      • Artificial heart
      • Malignant
      • Benign
      • Risk factor
      • Carcinogen
      • Cholesterol
      • Statin
      • Stent
      • Coronary heart disease
      • Transplant
      • Health
      • Tumour
    • Coronary heart disease (CHD)

      Occurs when the coronary arteries become narrowed by the build-up of layers of fatty material within them, reducing the flow of blood and resulting in less oxygen for the heart muscle, which can lead to heart attacks
    • Factors that can affect health
      • Communicable and non-communicable diseases
      • Diet
      • Stress
      • Exercise
      • Life situations
    • Different types of disease may interact
      • Defects in the immune system make an individual more likely to suffer from infectious diseases
      • Viral infections can trigger cancers
      • Immune reactions initially caused by a pathogen can trigger allergies such as skin rashes and asthma
      • Severe physical ill health can lead to depression and other mental illnesses
    • Treatments for cardiovascular diseases
      • Stent - Inserted into blocked coronary arteries to keep them open, widens the artery to allow more blood flow and oxygen to the heart, less serious surgery
      • Statins - Drugs that reduce blood cholesterol levels, slowing down the deposit of fatty material in the arteries, effective, no need for surgery, can prevent CHD from developing
      • Replace faulty heart valves - Heart valves that leak or do not open fully, preventing control of blood flow through the heart, can be replaced with biological or mechanical valves, allows control of blood flow through the heart, long-term cure for faulty heart valves
      • Heart transplant - If the heart fails, a donor heart or heart and lungs can be transplanted, long term cure for the most serious heart conditions, treats problems that cannot be treated in other ways
      • Artificial hearts - Can be used to keep patients alive while waiting for a heart transplant, or to allow the heart to rest during recovery
    • Disadvantages of treatments for cardiovascular diseases
      • Stent - Can involve major surgery, risk of infection, blood loss, blood clots, and damage to blood vessels, risks from anaesthetic
      • Statins - Possible side effects such as muscle pain, headaches, and sickness, cannot cure CHD so patient will have to take tablets for many years
      • Replace faulty heart valves - Can involve major surgery, risk of infection, blood loss, blood clots, and damage to blood vessels, risks from anaesthetic
      • Heart transplant - Transplant may be rejected if the donor and patient are not a match, lengthy process, major surgery, risk of infection, blood loss, blood clots, and damage to blood vessels, risks from anaesthetic
      • Artificial hearts - Major surgery, risk of infection, blood loss, blood clots, and damage to blood vessels, risks from anaesthetic
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