Communicable and non-communicable

• Communicable diseases can be spread from person to person e.g. measles
• Non-communicable diseases cannot be passed from person to person e.g. coronary heart disease
• Communicable diseases are spread by pathogen such as bacteria or viruses.
• Health is defined as the state of physical and mental well-being
• Ill health can be cause by both communicable and non-communicable diseases.
• Ill health can also be caused by poor diet, high levels of stress and other life-situations e.g. working with harmful chemicals.
• Tuberculosis (TB) is a communicable lung disease. TB can be fatal
• In most people, the immune system can fight off TB. However, some people have a defective immune system for example people with HIV.
• People with a defective immune system are much more likely to suffer from infectious diseases.
• Human papilloma virus (HPV) is extremely common. In most people it is essentially harmless. In some people, HPV can cause cervical cancer.
• Around 3000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year in the UK.
• Most cervical cancers are caused by the human papilloma virus which infects the cells of the cervix.
• Sometimes a disease can be triggered by the immune system e.g. allergies such as asthma or dermatitis.
• In the case of diseases being triggered by the immune system, the body is infected with a pathogen which the immune system fights off but the person is then left with an allergy.
• Sometimes a mental illness can be triggered by a physical illness.