NCDS Flashcards
What are Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)?
They are non-infectious, non-transmissible diseases, often chronic, with long duration and slow progression requiring chronic care management.
What percentage of global deaths are caused by NCDs?
About 63% of all deaths, according to WHO reports.
Where do 80% of NCD deaths occur?
In low- and middle-income countries.
By 2030, how many deaths are projected to be caused by NCDs?
55 million deaths (70% of all global deaths).
What is epidemiologic transition?
It is a change in disease patterns over time, such as a shift from communicable to non-communicable diseases, often accompanied by a double disease burden.
How do NCDs impact the economy?
Through healthcare costs and productivity losses due to deaths in the working age and disease-related disabilities.
Name three major transitions contributing to the rise of NCDs.
- Demographic transition: Increased life expectancy leads to more elderly populations prone to NCDs.
- Epidemiologic transition: Shift from communicable diseases to NCDs.
- Nutritional transition: Diets high in fats and sugars, low in fibers, coupled with sedentary lifestyles.
Why are NCDs challenging for prevention and control?
Due to multifactorial risk factors, difficulty in identifying specific cause-effect relationships, and the high cost of interventions.
Differentiate between modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors for NCDs.
- Non-modifiable: Genetics, age, sex, race.
- Modifiable: Smoking, alcohol, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, stress, and environmental pollution.
What are the top five risk factors for NCDs identified by WHO (2014)?
Raised blood pressure, raised cholesterol, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and overweight with insufficient physical activity.
What are the four levels of prevention for NCDs?
- Primordial prevention: Inhibit emergence of risk factors (e.g., cultural and environmental conditions).
- Primary prevention: Health promotion and adopting healthy lifestyles (balanced diet, exercise, avoiding smoking/alcohol).
- Secondary prevention: Early detection and proper management (e.g., screening for hypertension, diabetes, cancer).
- Tertiary prevention: Rehabilitation of complicated cases (e.g., late-stage cancer, complicated diabetes).
What is quaternary prevention?
Identifying patients at risk of over-medicalization to protect them from unnecessary medical interventions.
How does international communication contribute to NCDs?
Through the spread of high-risk lifestyles, food technologies, and dietary patterns via media, travel, and marketing.
How do environmental changes increase NCD prevalence?
Physical and chemical air pollution are linked to higher rates of NCDs.
Provide examples of screening tests used for NCDs.
- Blood pressure for hypertension.
- Random blood sugar for diabetes.
- Cervical smear for cancer cervix.
- Mammography for breast cancer.
- Alpha-fetoprotein for liver cancer.
