Risk Factors for Non-Communicable Diseases

• Risk factor


  Things that are linked to an increase in the likelihood that a person will develop a certain disease during their lifetime
• Risk factors don't guarantee that someone will get the disease
• Examples of risk factors

  • Aspects of a person's lifestyle (e.g. how much exercise they do)
  • Presence of certain substances in the environment (e.g. air pollution)
  • Substances in your body (e.g. asbestos fibres)
• Many non-communicable diseases are caused by several different risk factors interacting with each other rather than one factor alone
• Lifestyle factors


  Can have different impacts locally, nationally and globally
• Lifestyle factors in developed countries

  • People generally have a higher income and can buy high-fat food
• Lifestyle factors in deprived areas

  • People are more likely to smoke, have a poor diet and not exercise
• Incidence of cardiovascular disease, obesity and Type 2 diabetes

  Is higher in deprived areas
• Individual choices affect the local incidence of disease
• Risk factors that can directly cause disease

  • Smoking causes cardiovascular disease, lung disease and lung cancer
  • Obesity can cause Type 2 diabetes
  • Drinking too much alcohol causes liver disease and brain damage
• Smoking when pregnant and drinking alcohol can cause health problems for the unborn baby
• Carcinogens


  Substances or radiation that can directly cause cancer
• Correlation doesn't always equal cause
• Risk factors that can't directly cause disease

  • Lack of exercise and high fat diet are linked to cardiovascular disease, but can't cause it directly
• The human cost of non-communicable diseases is obvious - tens of millions of people around the world die from them per year
• Non-communicable diseases can reduce quality of life and lifespan, affecting sufferers and their loved ones
• The financial cost of researching and treating non-communicable diseases is huge for health services and organisations around the world
• Families may have to move or adapt their home, and lose income, if a family member has a non-communicable disease
• A reduction in the number of people able to work can affect a country's economy