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
• Types 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
• 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, meaning the incidence of cardiovascular disease, obesity and Type 2 diabetes is higher in those areas
• Individual choices affect the local incidence of disease
• Risk factors that can directly cause a disease

  • Smoking has been proven to directly cause cardiovascular disease, lung disease and lung cancer
  • Obesity can directly cause Type 2 diabetes
  • Drinking too much alcohol has been shown to cause liver disease and affect brain function
• Smoking when pregnant and drinking alcohol can cause health problems for the unborn baby
• Cancer can be directly caused by exposure to certain substances or radiation
• Correlation doesn't always equal cause, some risk factors aren't capable of directly causing a disease
• Lack of exercise and a high fat diet are heavily linked to an increased chance of cardiovascular disease, but they can't cause the disease directly
• The human cost of non-communicable diseases is obvious, with tens of millions of people around the world dying from them per year
• 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 to help a family member with a disease, and a reduction in the number of people able to work can affect a country's economy
• You might be asked to interpret data about risk factors, and there are tips on what you can and can't say on p.9