Non-communicable diseases

Kalafhi Medical Centre | Tuesday August 1, 2023 06:00

These conditions tend to be chronic, asymptomatic in early stages and multifactorial in causation involving an interplay of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural factors.

The main types of NCD are cardiovascular diseases as recognized by WHO include: cardiovascular diseases (e.g high blood, high cholesterol), diabetes (sukiri), cancer, and chronic lung diseases. NCDs account for41 million (i.e 74%) of global deaths annually. Of these, a greater proportion (>75%) of deaths occurs in low-and middle-income countries highly attributed to poor screening uptake and unhealthy lifestyles. Early detection and treatment of NCDs is key to more favourable clinical outcomes..

Risk factors

People of all age groups, regions and countries are affected by NCDs. Risk factors can be divided into modifiable and no-modifiable risk factors:

Major modifiable behavioural risk factors

•Unhealthy diets

•Smoking

•Sedentary lifestyles

•Excessive alcohol use

Major non-modifiable risk factors

•Strong family history of NCDs

•Age (risk increases with age) •Ethnicity (Blacks > Caucasians)

Prevention& Treatment

An important way to control NCDs is to focus on reducing the risk factors associated with these diseases. Healthy lifestyle habits implored by individuals including; regular health and wellness check-ups, healthy dietary intake, regular exercising, smoking cessation and healthy alcohol intake. Treatment is tailored to the disease