Chapter 7

• What are risk factors?


  -Risk factors are things that are linked to an increase in the likelihood that a person will develop a certain disease during their lifetime. They don't guarantee someone will get a disease.

  -Risk factors are often aspects of a person's lifestyle. They can also be the presence of certain substances in the environment or substances in your body

  -many non-communicable diseases are caused by several different risk factors interacting with each other, rather than one factor alone.
• How do lifestyle factors have different impacts?


  -lifestyle factors can have different impacts locally, nationally and globally.

  -In developed countries, non-communicable diseases are more common as people generally have a higher income, and can buy high-fat food.

  -Nationally, people from deprived areas are more likely to smoke, have a poor diet and not exercise. This means the incidence of cardiovascular disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes is higher in those area

  -individual choices affect the local incidence of disease.
• What are some examples of risk factors that cause disease?


  -smoking directly causes cardiovascular disease, lung disease and lung cancer. It damages the walls of the arteries and the cells in the lining of the lungs.

  -Obesity might directly cause type 2 diabetes by making the body less sensitive or resistant to insulin, meaning it struggles to control the concentration of glucose in the body

  -Drinking too much alcohol can cause liver disease. The liver breaks down alcohol but the reaction can damage its cells. Too much alcohol can affect brain function too. It can damage the nerve cells in the brain
• What is the difference between correlation and cause?

  correlation doesn't equal cause. some risk factors aren't capable of directly causing a disease, but are related to another risk factor that is.
• What is the cost of non-communicable diseases?


  Human cost

  -Tens of millions of people around the world die from non-communicable diseases per year.

  -people with these diseases may have a lower quality of life or a shorter life span

  
  

  Financial cost

  -the cost to the NHS (and other health services and organisations) of researching and treating these diseases is huge

  -Families may have to adapt/move their home to help a family member with a disease, which can be costly

  -If they have to give up work or die, the families income will be reduced

  -a reduction in the people able to work, will affect the economy of a country
• What is a tumour?

  A tumour is an abnormal mass of cells that forms when a group of cells undergo uncontrolled growth and division.
• What is a benign tumour?


  This is where the tumour grows until there's no more room. The tumour stays in one place rather than invading other tissues in the body. This type isn't normally dangerous, and the tumour isn't cancerous
• What is a malignant tumour?


  This is where the tumour grows and spreads to neighbouring healthy tissues. Cells can break off and spread to other parts of the body by travelling in the bloodstream. The malignant cells then invade healthy tissues elsewhere in the body and from secondary tumours. Malignant tumours are dangerous and can be fatal- they are cancerous
• What are the risk factors for cancer?


  smoking-lung, mouth, bowel, stomach, cervical cancer

  obesity-bowel ,liver ,kidney cancer

  UV exposure/ionising radiation-skin cancer

  genetics
• How can cancer be treated?


  Radiotherapy

  -cancer cells are destroyed by doses of radiation. This stops mitosis in cancerous cells but can also damage normal cells.

  Chemotherapy

  -chemicals are used to either stop the cancer cells dividing or make them 'self-destruct
• What problems does smoking cause?


  -Carbon monoxide is a chemical found in tobacco smoke- a poisonous gas which causes shortages of oxygen, making smokers more breathless

  -If a women smokes during her pregnancy- the carbon monoxide will mean that the fetus won't get enough oxygen to grow properly. This can lead to premature births, low birthweight babies and stillbirths

  -tar can accumulate in the lungs turning them from pink to grey and causing the alveoli to break down causing COPD

  -smoking narrows the blood vessels and nicotine increases the heart rate, therefore increasing the chance of coronary heart disease
• What problems does alcohol have?


  -Alcohol can damage the liver, and cause cirrhosis, and liver cancer

  -Alcohol can cause brain damage and death

  -Alcohol taken in by a pregnant women can affect the development of her unborn baby.
• What are some sources of ionising radiation?


  -UV light

  -radioactive materials found in soil, water, air

  -medical and dental X-rays

  -accidents in nuclear power generation