Non-Communicable Diseases Flashcards
What is a non communicable disease?
Cannot be spread between people or animals generally last for a long time. They are caused by several different risk factors interacting with each other.
What is a risk factor?
Things that cause an increased likelihood that a person will develop a certain disease during their lifetime.
Examples of risk factors
Lifestyle factors- Smoking, poor diet, lack of exercise
Environmental factors- Air pollution, asbestos
What does smoking do?
Cardiovascular disease, lung disease/cancer, health problems in unborn babies.
What does obesity do?
Causes type 2 diabetes by making the body resistant to insulin and breathing problems.
What does alcohol do?
Liver disease, affect brain function, health problems in unborn babies
What is a carcinogen?
Something that causes cancer
How does living in a developed country affect disease?
More money so better healthcare= less communicable diseases
More money= High fat food= Non communicable disease
How does living in a deprived area affect health?
More likely to smoke, have a poor diet and not exercise
Cost of non communicable disease
Death-Shorter life span and lower quality of life
Financial- To families e.g. adapting home, giving up work,
to NHS-Researching and treating disease
to economy- people can’t work, income reduced.
How is cancer caused?
Cancer is caused by uncontrolled cell growth and division. This results into the formation of a tumour.
What is a benign tumour?
The tumour grows until there’s no more room, it stays In one place and doesn’t invade other tissues in the body Normally this tumour isn’t dangerous, and isn’t cancerous.
What is a malignant tumour?
The tumour grows and spreads to neighbouring healthy tissues. Cells can break off and spread to other parts of the body by the bloodstream. The malignant cells then invade healthy tissues elsewhere in the body and form secondary tumours. They are dangerous and can be fatal they are cancers.
What does UV exposure do?
Increases the chance of skin cancer. People who are prone to the sun or use sun beds are at a higher risk of getting skin cancer.
What do viral infections do? in terms of cancer
Infection with hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses can increase the risk of developing liver cancer. Sometimes hepatitis B and C can spread through lifestyle choices like unprotected sex or sharing needles.
Genetic risk factors in terms of cancer
You can inherit faulty genes that can make you more susceptible to cancer, changes in BRCA genes have been linked to an increased likelihood of developing breast and ovarian cancer.
What is coronary heart disease?
Coronary heart disease is when the coronary arteries that supply the blood to the muscle of the heart get blocked by layers of fatter material building up. This makes the arteries become narrow so then the blood flow is restricted and there’s a lack of oxygen to the heart muscle, you can get a heart attack from this.
What are stents?
Stents are tubes that are inserted inside arteries keeping them open so that blood can pass through to heart muscles. This keeps the person’s heart beating.
How do stents help the heart?
They lower the risk of a heart attack in people with coronary heart disease. They are effective for a long time and the recovery time from surgery is relatively quick. However there are risks of complications during the operation and a risk of an infection afterwards, the person could also develop a blood clot near the stent (thrombosis).
What is cholesterol?
Cholesterol is an essential lipid that your body produces and needs to function properly. Too much of a certain type of cholesterol , LDL cholesterol, can cause health problems. Having too much in the bloodstream can cause fatty deposits to form inside the arteries, which can lead to coronary heart disease.
What are statins?
Statins are drugs that can reduce the amount of bad cholesterol present in the bloodstream. This slows down the rate of fatty deposits forming.
Advantages of Statins
Reduces risks of strokes, coronary heart disease and heart attacks.
increase the amount of a beneficial type of cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, in your bloodstream. It can remove bad cholesterol from the blood.
Statins may also prevent other diseases.
Disadvantages of Statins
are a long time drug that must be taken regularly.
Sometimes cause headaches or kidney failure, liver damage and memory loss.
The effect of statins isn’t instant, it takes time.
Artificial hearts
mechanical devices that pump blood for a person whose heart has failed. They’re only temporary until a donor heart is available. sometimes they are used as a permanent fix reducing the need for a donor heart.
Advantages of artificial hearts
Less likely to reject it than a donor heart because it’s made from metals or plastics, so the body doesn’t recognise it as foreign.
Disadvantages of artificial hearts
surgery to fit one can lead to bleeding and infection. They don’t work as well as healthy natural ones and the electrical motor could fail. Blood also doesn’t flow through as smoothy so blood clots could happen and lead to strokes. The patient has to take drugs to thin their blood and make sure this doesn’t happen and this can cause problems with bleeding if they’re hurt in an accident.
What happens when a valve is faulty?
They can be damaged or weakened by a heart attack, infection or old age. The valve tissue will stiffen and it won’t open properly. The valve might be leaky allowing. blood to flow in both directions rather than just forwards. The blood doesn’t circulate as effectively as normal.
Replacing a valve
replacements can be taken from humans or other mammals e.g. cows or pigs, these are biological valve. Or they can be man made, mechanical valves. It’s much less a drastic procedure than a whole heart transplant. It’s still a major surgery and can still be problems with blood clots.
Artificial blood
blood substitute, salt solution, saline. Is used to replace the lost volume of blood. This gives enough time for the person to produce their blood cells and if not a blood transfusion is needed.
What are the components of blood?
Red blood cells, White blood cells, Platelets, plasma
What are red blood cells?
Carry oxygen
biconcave disc= Large surface area
no nucleus
contain haemoglobin, which binds the oxygen
What are white blood cells?
Defence against infection
Lymphocytes make antibodies
Phagocytes engulf and digest. pathogens
What are platelets?
Help the blood clot
Small fragments of cells
No nucleus
What is plasma?
Liquid that carries everything in blood e.g. red and white blood cells, platelets, glucose, amino acids, carbon dioxide, urea, hormones, proteins and antibodies.
What are the types of blood vessel?
Arteries, veins and capillaries
What are arteries?
Carry blood away from heart oxygenated blood thick muscular walls small lumen stretch when blood is In It and goes back to shape High pressure
What are veins?
carry blood to the heart deoxygenated blood thin muscular walls big lumen have valves to prevent backflow low pressure
What are capillaries?
Network of tiny vessels. linking arteries and veins
narrow, thin walls - one cell thick
diffusion of substances
What is the double circulatory system?
Pulmonary circulation carries deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs to be oxygenated, then returns it to the heart
systemic circulation carries oxygenated blood to the whole body and returns deoxygenated blood to the heart.
What is the structure of the heart?
2 atria 2 ventricles
blood flows from the vein into the atria, to the ventricle, into an artery
What is the heart?
An organ that pumps blood around the body
made up of muscle supplied by coronary arteries
describe blood flow through the heart
systemic circulation – vena cava – right atrium – right ventricle – pulmonary artery – lungs – pulmonary vein – left atrium – left ventricle — aorta – systemic circulation
What is heart rate controlled by?
pacemaker cells in the right atrium
they produce electrical impulses which causes the muscle to contract.
