Cancer and non-communicable diseases Flashcards
What are the three most deadly communicable diseases?
Pneumonia, HIV/AIDs, diseases causing diarrhoea.
What are the three most deadly non communicable diseases?
Coronary heart disease, Stroke and COPD.
Name 4 risk factors for disease
Genetics, smoking, poor diet, radiation
What is a carcinogen
A carcinogen is a substance or factor that can cause cancer by damaging DNA or disrupting normal cell regulation.
What is a correlation?
When we see similar trends between two variables that could be linked. For example, physical inactivity and heart disease.
What is a causal mechanism in disease?
Is when we can prove that a change in one factor/variable causes a change in another. For example, proving that smoking causes lung cancer and COPD.
What are the impacts of non-communicable diseases?
Financial if someone cannot work, raised taxes to pay for national healthcare, community and family strain to look after those who are sick.
What is a non communicable disease?
A disease that cannot be passed from one individual to another.
What is a tumour?
A tumour is a mass of abnormal cells that grow uncontrollably. It can be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous).
How does a tumour grow?
By DNA mutation the cells grow rapidly and out of control with the cells becoming abnormal.
What is a benign tumour?
Growths of abnormal cells contained in one place, usually within a membrane and don’t spread to other parts of the body but can grow very large and fast.
What is a malignant tumour?
Tumours that grow quickly with cells spreading around the body in blood or lymphatics and invading other healthy tissues. Malignant tumours are cancerous.
Name 4 causes of cancer
Genetics, carcinogens like asbestos and tar, Ionising radiation, viruses.
Describe two ways of treating cancer.
Radiotherapy when cancer cells are destroyed by targeted doses of radiation. This stops mitosis. Chemotherapy stops cells dividing or causes them to destroy themselves.
Describe what nicotine is and what carbon monoxide does in cigarettes
Nicotine is an addictive, non-carcinogenic drug found in tobacco that calms people down. Carbon monoxide in cigarettes takes the space up for less oxygen to be carried in the blood (less oxygen carrying capacity) resulting in breathlessness.
What happens if someone smokes during pregnancy?
The mother and baby share a blood supply, so the carbon monoxide will also pass into the baby’s body. With less oxygen, the baby may not grow properly resulting in premature birth and stillbirth.
What happens to the throat when someone smokes?
The cilia cells that brush away dirt in the trachea and bronchi stop working, so dirt, bacteria and mucous builds up in the lungs and risks infections in the respiratory system
Describe the effect of tar on the lungs from smoking
Tar sticks to the lungs and turns them grey. The sticky liquid is risky for infection to grow onto and cause things like bronchitis. Tar breaks the alveoli sacs within the lungs, scars them and causes COPD. The scarring reduces surface area to volume ratio of the lungs and results in breathlessness, poor oxygenation and death.
How does smoking affect the heart and blood vessels?
Smoking narrows the blood vessels via acidic damage and nicotine increases the heart rate and blood pressure. Blood clots are more likely too; heart attacks and strokes.
How does the body manage poison from alcohol?
Ethanol in the blood stream circulates the body and is removed by the liver before it can cause permanent damage. Large amounts can’t immediately be broken down by the liver in one go, so individuals get drunk and lose some self control. If the dose is too high, ,it can cause unconsciousness, liver failure and death.
What happens to the brain and liver if alcohol is heavily drank over a long period?
The person may develop liver cirrhosis, where liver cells are replaced with scar tissue which can lead to liver cancer. Alcohol is also a direct carcinogen that can cause liver cancer which divides rapidly. Long term alcohol use can damage the brain also to reduce cognitive functioning and can also cause death.
How can alcohol damage a baby during pregnancy?
Alcohol/ethanol can be carried in the bloodstream across the placenta and into the baby. It results in stillbirth, miscarriage, prematurity. In terms of the baby’s body structure, it can damage the brain and the limbs. These can be deformities, including facial deformities and fetal alcohol syndrome.
4 sources of ionising radiation
Ultraviolet (sun)light for skin cancers, radioactive materials in ground and air eg radon in cornwall. Medical and dental xrays, nuclear accidents.
