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Epidemiology lecture for prosthetics diploma students at King Fahad Medical City on May 9, 2018 by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard)
DEFINITIONS
• Non-communicable diseases are characterized by a prolonged course, rarity of spontaneous resolution or complete cure, non-transmissibility, multi-causality, ignorance of definitive causes, non-specific cause-disease relation, long latency, repeated exposures to the agent, lack of acquired immunity, non-specific diagnostic procedures, and association with lifestyle.
• The incidence of non-communicable diseases is increasing due to relative decrease of infectious diseases, an older population, industrialization, and better diagnosis.
• Non-communicable diseases are called diseases of civilization because they are closely associated with life style.
PROCESSES OF NON COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
• Neoplasia eg cancer
• Inflammation eg asthma, chronic ulcers
• Degeneration eg atherosclerosis
• Metabolic and endocrine disturbance eg diabetes mellitus
• Traumatic eg road traffic accidents
• Psychiatric disorders eg schizophrenia
• Dental caries
PREVENTION OF NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL
• Primary prevention at the community is general (food supplies, education, employment, housing etc) or specific (health promotion, health education, health care, environmental protection directed to air, water, and soil pollution).
• Secondary prevention at the community level is mass disease screening, case finding, and early treatment.
PREVENTION OF NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES AT THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL
• Primary prevention: proper nutrition, health knowledge, exercise, avoiding addictions to alcohol and drugs, safety belts etc)
• Secondary Prevention: diagnosis and treatment
• Tertiary prevention is rehabilitation.
• The barrier to prevention is inability to change human behavior since most non-communicable diseases can be prevented by behavioral and lifestyle change.
RISK FACTORS OF NON COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
• Nutrition: hypertension, coronary heart disease (CHD), diabetes mellitus, and various types of cancer.
• Alcohol: oropharyngeal carcinoma, esophageal carcinoma, gastric and duodenal ulcers, gastric carcinoma, colon carcinoma, pancreatic carcinoma, liver cirrhosis, hapatocellular carcinoma, ischemic heart disease.
• Tobacco: coronary heart disease/ischemic heart disease and chronic obstructive lung disease. Bad pregnancy outcome,
• Physical inactivity: hypertension, osteoporosis, and mental health.
• Air pollution: chronic respiratory disease.