Disease Overview
Disease Overview Objectives
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Provide examples of non-infectious and infectious diseases.
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List the non-infectious and infectious diseases that kill the most adult humans each year, including approximate number of deaths.
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Describe global conditions that increase the risk of disease occurrence.
The rest of BI 103 Focus is on disease content & finishing the final portfolio
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
The rest of BI 103 focuses on human diseases. This guide provides a perspective on the non-infectious diseases that have been mentioned throughout the course. The remaining guides focus on infectious diseases, including COVID-19.
Before COVID-19, these were the most significant causes of adult deaths. The numbers are approximations: not all deaths have an identified cause and not all countries report the same information (source: WHO.int)
In the United States in 2021, COVID-19 surpassed all of the other infectious (communicable) diseases to become the third largest disease cause of adult death, after cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Infectious disease coverage, including COVID-19, begins in the next guide.
Non-infectious, also called non-communicable, diseases are typically not spread from one individual to the next. Contact with another human, organism, or virus does not give you the disease.
From the course so far, list five examples of non-infectious diseases.
Examples include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s Disease, and most cancers. These diseases occur associated with age, genetics, environmental factors, and chance. As a result, they can vary significantly from one person to the next.
Non-infectious diseases like hypertension (high blood pressure) can impact multiple organs. This is another reason why individual’s symptoms can vary significantly.
During this video, determine which organ systems are most linked to adult deaths.
Stroke is a leading cause of adult deaths. This is an opportunity to recall what you have learned about this disease.
Globally, some disease risks for infectious and non-infectious diseases have been persistent for decades.
Significant Disease Risks
Underweight
Iron Deficiency
Unsafe Water
Indoor Smoke
Alcohol
Tobacco Products
Hypertension
High Cholesterol
Obesity
Unsafe Sex
For many non-infectious diseases, diet and exercise can reduce incidence. This video provides some of the current recommendations. The amount of exercise is more than many people regularly get.
This video reinforces two important concepts that have previously appeared in the course.
The next section provides a context for the various cancers that can occur in the human body.
Check your knowledge. Can you:
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provide examples of non-infectious and infectious diseases?
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list the non-infectious and infectious diseases that kill the most adult humans each year, including approximate number of deaths?
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describe global conditions that increase the risk of disease occurrence?