Unit 2 Health And Disease Research Paper

Disease is any condition that adversely affects the function of any part of a living thing. Health is the wellbeing of the organism. All our body functions, which are under the control of our genes, work together to maintain health.
Difficulties in determining health and disease:
Disease can cover a wide range of conditions including minor conditions, such as a cut finger or an ant bite, as well as the more obvious diseases like cancers.
Health varies on a daily basis and is not just the absence of disease. Health varies with age and the susceptibility to disease. It is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing.
The difficulties of defining the terms health and disease include that: * it is possible for a person to be healthy
Instead, these types of disease are caused by factors such as environment, genetics and lifestyle. Non-infectious diseases are not caused by specific organisms and are studied and cared for more in developed countries, where many infectious diseases are under control. Examples of inherited non-infectious conditions include cystic fibrosis and Down syndrome, and examples of conditions caused by environmental or lifestyle factors include heart disease and skin cancer. Ways of prevent of non-infectious diseases can be for example cutting down on exposure to cigarette smoke and the sun’s rays as these will prevent certain types of cancers and eating healthier which can prevent
On the other side of the equation, many people who smoke do not develop lung cancer.
An earlier Canadian study quoted the lifetime risk for male smokers at 17.2% (11.6% in women) versus only 1.3% in male non-smokers (1.4% in female non-smokers).
In a 2006 European study, the risk of developing lung cancer was: * 0.2% for men who never smoked (0.4% for women) * 5.5% for male former smokers (2.6% in women) * 15.9% for current male smokers (9.5% for women) * 24.4% for male “heavy smokers” defined as smoking more than 5 cigarettes per day (18.5% for women)

Skin cancer (melanoma) | Occurrence | Australia has the highest incidence of melanoma in the world and melanoma is often referred to as Australia 's national cancer. * Melanoma makes up only 2.3% of all skin cancers but is responsible for 75% of skin cancer deaths. * Melanoma is the third most common form of cancer in Australian men and women (10% of all cancers) * 1 in 17 Australians will be diagnosed with melanoma before age 85 * Melanoma is more commonly diagnosed in men than women. The risk of being diagnosed with melanoma by age 85 is 1 in 14 for men compared to 1 in 23 for women.