What are non-communicable diseases, what raises the risk of them, and how are they treated?
Non-communicable diseases and their risk factors (diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol), the difference between correlation and cause, the effects of risk factors on the body, cardiovascular disease and its treatments, and the use of data to evaluate the impact of lifestyle on health.
A focused answer to the OCR Gateway GCSE Biology A topic B6 on non-communicable disease, covering risk factors such as diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol, the difference between correlation and cause, cardiovascular disease and its treatments, and using data to evaluate the impact of lifestyle on health.
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What this dot point is asking
OCR wants you to describe non-communicable diseases and their risk factors, distinguish correlation from cause, explain how risk factors affect the body, describe cardiovascular disease and its treatments, and use data to evaluate the impact of lifestyle on health.
Non-communicable disease and risk factors
A risk factor is anything that increases the chance of getting a disease. The main lifestyle risk factors OCR expects you to know are:
- Diet. Too much saturated fat, salt and sugar raises blood cholesterol and blood pressure and leads to obesity, increasing the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
- Lack of exercise. Increases the risk of obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
- Smoking. Damages the lungs (lung disease and lung cancer) and the blood vessels (cardiovascular disease).
- Alcohol. High intake damages the liver (cirrhosis) and the brain.
Some risk factors are not lifestyle, such as inherited (genetic) factors and exposure to substances (for example asbestos or ionising radiation).
Correlation and cause
For example, the link between smoking and lung cancer is accepted as causal because there is a strong correlation in many large studies, a clear mechanism (carcinogens in smoke damage lung-cell DNA), and the risk rises with how much and how long a person smokes, and falls when they stop.
Effects on the body and on society
Non-communicable diseases have a large human cost (illness, disability and early death) and a large financial cost to individuals (loss of earnings) and to society (the cost of treatment and care, and lost productivity). Because many are linked to lifestyle, they can often be reduced by changing diet, exercising, not smoking and limiting alcohol, which is why public-health campaigns target these behaviours.
Cardiovascular disease and its treatment
Cardiovascular disease affects the heart and blood vessels. In coronary heart disease, layers of fatty material build up inside the coronary arteries, narrowing them and reducing blood flow (and so oxygen) to the heart muscle. This can cause chest pain or a heart attack.
Treatments include:
- Lifestyle changes: a healthier diet, more exercise, stopping smoking and losing weight, which tackle the risk factors.
- Statins: drugs that lower blood cholesterol, slowing the build-up of fatty deposits.
- Stents: small mesh tubes inserted to hold a narrowed artery open so blood can flow.
- Bypass surgery: in severe cases, a blood vessel is used to bypass the blocked section of artery.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR 20194 marksA study finds that people who smoke are more likely to develop lung cancer. Explain the difference between a correlation and a cause, and explain why scientists are confident that smoking causes lung cancer.Show worked answer →
A B6 question on correlation and cause.
Difference: a correlation is a relationship where two things change together (here, as smoking increases, lung cancer cases increase). A cause means one thing directly brings about the other. A correlation on its own does not prove cause, because a third factor could be responsible.
Confidence about smoking: scientists are confident smoking causes lung cancer because there is a strong correlation across many large studies, there is a clear mechanism (chemicals in tobacco smoke, such as carcinogens, damage the DNA of lung cells), and the risk rises with the amount and length of smoking (a dose-response relationship), and falls when people stop. Reward the correlation/cause distinction and the reasons (mechanism, dose-response, repeated large studies) that support causation here.
OCR 20214 marksDescribe two lifestyle risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and describe one way that cardiovascular disease can be treated.Show worked answer →
A B6 structured question on cardiovascular disease.
Risk factors (any two): a diet high in saturated fat and salt (raising blood cholesterol and blood pressure); lack of exercise; smoking (damages blood vessels and reduces oxygen carried); being overweight or obese; and high alcohol intake. These increase the build-up of fatty deposits in the coronary arteries, which can restrict blood flow to the heart muscle.
Treatment (any one): lifestyle changes (better diet, more exercise, stopping smoking); medication such as statins to lower cholesterol; stents to hold a narrowed coronary artery open; or, in severe cases, a coronary bypass operation. Reward two valid risk factors and one valid treatment, ideally with a brief reason for how it helps.
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