Non-communicable diseases Flashcards
What happens in coronary heart disease?
layers of fatty material build up inside the coronary arteries narrowing them
this reduces blood flow through the coronary arteries resulting in a lack of oxygen for the heart muscle - this can result in a heart attack
what are examples of treatments of coronary heart disease?
stents and statins
what do stents do?
keeps the coronary arteries open
What are the pros and cons of stents?
pros :
- lowers the risk of a heart attack
- effective for a long time
- recovery time from surgery is relatively quick
cons :
- risk of complications during the operation
- risk of infection from surgery
- risk of patients developing blood clot near stents (thrombosis)
what do statins do?
reduces blood cholesterol ( the bad one) and slows down the rate of fatty material deposit
What are the pros and cons of statins?
Pros:
- reduces the risk of strokes, coronary heart disease and heart attacks
- increases the amount of beneficial type of cholesterol
Cons :
- long term drug that must be taken regularly- the risk of someone forgetting to take them
- can cause negative side effects: headache or serious: kidney failure, liver damage and memory loss
- takes time for their effect to kick in
What could faulty valves be replaced with?
biological or mechanical valves
Pros and cons of biological and mechanical valves
- less drastic procedure than a whole recent transplant
- biological valves (e.g. cows or pigs) workers very well but only lasts for 12-15yrs
- mechanical valves last for a long time but constant medication is needed to stop blood from clotting around the valve
what could be done in the case of heart failure?
- a donor heart can be transplanted
- artificial hearts can be used to keep patients alive while waiting for a heart transplant or to allow the heart to recover
What are the pros and cons of artificial hearts?
Pros :
- less likely to be rejected by the immune system as metal and plastic are not recognised as foreign
Cons :
- surgery can lead to bleeding and infection
- because it is mechanical, part of it could wear out and the motor fail
- blood clots could form, leading to strokes
- to prevent the blood from clotting, patients have to take drugs to thin their blood, which can cause problems with bleeding if they are heart in an accident
what is good health
good health is a state of physical and mental wellbeing
how is a disease caused
a disease is caused by part of the body not working properly this can affect physical and / or mental health
what are the two main types of disease
non-communicable and communicable
differences between communicable and non communicable disease
non-communicable diseases cannot be spread between organisms, but communicable disease can
different ways diseases interact with each other
viruses infecting cells can be the trigger of cancers such as cervical cancer
a disease of the immune system means that an individual is more likely to catch infectious disease e.g. people with HIV are more likely to get tuberculosis
immune reactions triggered by pathogen can cause allergies, such as skin rashes and asthma
if a person is physically ill, this can lead to depression and mental health illness
poor diet, stress and difficult life situations can increase the likelihood of developing certain diseases
what are the effects of non- communicable diseases
non-communicable diseases, such as HIV and diabetes can change a persons life and cost countries large sums of money
about 10 per cent of the health budget in britain is spent on people with diabetes
typical risk factors for non-communicable diseases
aspects of a persons lifestyle e.g. excersise
substances in the persons body or environment like chemicals from smoking
how can scienstists prove that risk factors were involved in the development of a disease
they look for causal mechanisms
define causal maechanisms
a causal mechanism is the process by which a cause brings out an effect
a causal mechanism has been found that links smoking with lung cancer. it is the action of the chemicals in the tar
outline common diseases and their proven risk factors
cardiovascular disease- lack of excersise/smoking/high intake of saturated fat
type 2 diabetes- obesity
liver and brain damage- excessive alchohol damage
lung diseases, including lung cancer- smoking
low birth weight in babies- smoking during pregnancy
brain damage in babies- excessive alcohol intake during pregnancy
define cancer
cancer is a non communicable disease
risk factors for cancer
smoking obesity common viruses and uv exposure
some genes make the carrier more suspectible to certain types of breast cancer
how is cancer caused
uncontrolled cell division. this forms masses of cells called tumours
different types of tumours
benign tumors do not spread around the body
malignant tumours spread, in the blood, to different parts of the body where they form secondary tumours
