You learned previously about communicable diseases. Now you will turn your attention to diseases that are not caused by pathogens. These are called non-communicable diseases. 

Many non-communicable diseases are the result of bad environmental conditions, poor diets, unhealthy lifestyles, and genetics.

You know that you can help prevent disease from affecting your health with such actions as the following:

• Be a non-smoker.

• Maintain a healthy weight by eating a balanced diet following Canada's Food Guide.

• Be physically active.

• Protect yourself from too much sun.

These actions do make you healthier, but even they cannot guarantee you freedom from disease. Some non-communicable diseases may be unpreventable.

Here are some facts about non-communicable diseases from 2015.

• About 38 million people died from non-communicable diseases. That is about 60% of all deaths in the world.

• Non-communicable diseases caused 82% of deaths in poorer countries.

• Sixteen million of the 38 million people who died were less than 70 years old.

• Cardiovascular disease, sometimes called heart disease, is the leading cause of death, accounting for 17.5 million of the 38 million deaths — that's almost 50% of the deaths from non-communicable diseases.

• Cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes account for half of all deaths worldwide.

Tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol, and unhealthy diets all increase the risk of dying from a non-communicable disease. Non-communicable diseases can have a serious impact on a country's economy in terms of the cost of treating these diseases in the health care system and in terms of the cost when people are too sick to work. 

Although these statistics present a frightening picture, realize that many non-communicable diseases are preventable if you know what puts you at risk for becoming ill. You will learn more about preventing non-communicable diseases in an upcoming activity.

Let's look more closely at the health conditions that were mentioned in the statistics above.

Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death by non-communicable diseases in the world. The term "cardiovascular" refers to your circulatory system — the system that pumps blood from your heart, to your lungs, around your body, and back to your heart. If this system is not working well, your body does not get enough oxygen to keep your brain and other organs and muscles working properly. Some of the conditions associated with cardiovascular problems include the following illnesses:

• hypertension or high blood pressure

• stroke

• heart attacks

• heart disease

• arteriosclerosis (also called hardening of the arteries)

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Cancer

Cancer is another leading cause of death. Many types of cancer can affect various parts of your body, but all cancers have the common trait of the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells in the body.

Currently, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths for both men and women in Canada. The most commonly diagnosed cancers in Canada are breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men. According to Health Canada, 78,800 people died from cancer and 202,400 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in 2016.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

This disease is another leading cause of death among non-communicable diseases. The term "pulmonary" refers to your lungs, so COPD is a disease that causes breathing difficulties such as coughing and shortness of breath. According to Statistics Canada, about 4.4% of all deaths in Canada in 2011 were due to COPD and other respiratory illnesses.

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Diabetes

This is another non-communicable disease that is a serious problem for Canadians and populations around the world. This disease affects the production of insulin, a hormone that your body produces to convert the sugar in food into energy. According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, about 3.4 million Canadians had diabetes in 2015.