Case 1 Flashcards
What is public health?
art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organised efforts of society
What fields are associated with PH?
- Disease prevention
- Health promotion
- Health protection
Define disease prevention in the context of PH
Aimed at minimising the burden of diseases and associated risk factors through prevention efforts
Define health promotion in the context of PH
Enabling people to increase control over and improve their health through social and environmental interventions
Define health protection in the context of PH
Management of environmental, food, toxiocological and occupational safety
What is the difference between infectious, chronic, non-communicable diseases & communicable diseases?
CDs comprise infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and measles.
NCDs are mostly chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and diabetes
Why is there a transition from infectious to chronic diseases?
- Developments in society = changes in prevalence of risk factors.
- More chronic diseases = big issue for society e.g. obesity, hypertension, etc.
- Medical and scientific progress = improved detection/ screening/ treatment.
Why is cancer now the #1 death in NL when it used to be CVD?
- Incidence CVD decrease coz have better education, more awareness of lifestyle, CVD risk management in place than in the past. E.g. GP checkup every 6 months if have high BP, cholesterol, etc.
- Cancer increasing due to ageing population (age is huge risk factor)
Define primary prevention
Prevent disease before it develops & reduce risk factors. e.g. vaccination or ban on smoking (see image in doc)
Define secondary prevention
Early detection. ofdisease before suffering and disability (e.g. breast cancer screening)
Define tertiary prevention
Treat diagnosed disease to prevent further detoriation due to disease (e.g. management of diabetic complications)
**Define selective prevention
double check this
intervention that targets a sub-group of the population based on their specific characteristic that would make them susceptible and create a high-risk group. E.g. only selecting people who smoke (we don’t know symptoms) but based on certain characteristics e.g age, type of work, sex, etc that tend to smoke
**Define indicated prevention
double check if correct
focus on individuals at risk (screening). E.g. quit smoking then smokers are group at risk and you only want poeple who actually smoke (at risk)
What is universal prevention?
address an entire population (national, local, community, school, or neighborhood) with messages and programs.
Define a vaccine
Active immunity produced by vaccine. Immunity & immunologic memory similar to natural infection but without risk of disease.
More similar vaccine to disease = better immune response to vaccine
Define immunity
Ability of human body to tolerate presence of material indigenous to body and to eliminate foreign material.
Why has mortality due to infectious diseases decreased?
- Medical advances
- Access to health care
- Improved sanitation
Why are some infectious diseases still an endemic in some countries?
- e.g. polio
- due to conflict which stops vaccine programmes and increases the risk of polio.
Why can we eliminate diseases such as polio and smallpox but not diseases such as tetanus?
Because they only have a human reservoir (only human have the disease) but tetanus is everywhere (soil, animals, etc)
