A risk factor is a circumstance (external or internal) that adversely affects human health and creates a favorable environment for the onset and development of diseases.
Health: Definition
Human health is a normal state of the body in which all organs are able to fully perform their functions of maintaining and ensuring vital functions. Regarding the state of the human body, the concept of "norm" is applied - the correspondence of the values of certain parameters in the range developed by medicine and science.
Any deviation is a sign and proof of poor health, which is externally expressed as a measurable violation of the body's functions and a change in its adaptive capabilities. At the same time, health is a state of not only physical well-being, but also social and spiritual balance.
Risk factor: definition, classification
Human health is a normal state of the body in which all organs are able to fully perform their functions.
According to the degree of influence on health, the following disease risk factors are distinguished:
1. Primary. Due to:
- wrong lifestyle. This is alcohol abuse, smoking, an unbalanced diet, adverse living conditions, a poor moral climate in the family, constant psycho-emotional stress, stressful situations, drug use, a poor educational and cultural level;
- high blood cholesterol;
- burdened by heredity and genetic risk;
- polluted environment, increased background of radiation and magnetic radiation, a sharp change in atmospheric parameters;
- unsatisfactory work of health services, consisting in the low quality of medical care rendered, and the untimely provision of it.
2. Secondary main risk factors associated with diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension and others.
External and internal risk factors
Risk factors for disease vary:
• external (economic, environmental);
• personal (internal), depending on the person himself and the characteristics of his behavior (hereditary predisposition, high blood cholesterol, lack of exercise, smoking). The combination of two or more factors at times enhances their effect.
Risk Factors: Managed and Unmanaged
According to the effectiveness of elimination, the main risk factors for diseases differ according to two criteria: managed and uncontrolled.
Uncontrollable, or fatal, factors (which have to be reckoned with, but there is no way to change them) include:
- age. People who have crossed the 60-year frontier are more prone to the appearance of various diseases in comparison with the younger generation. It is in the period of conscious maturity that almost simultaneously exacerbates all the diseases that a person has managed to “accumulate” over the years of life;
- floor. Women are better able to tolerate pain, a state of prolonged limited movement and immobility in comparison with the male half of humanity;
- heredity. Each person has a certain predisposition to diseases, depending on the inherited genes. Hemophilia, Down's disease, cystic fibrosis are inherited. Hereditary predisposition is present in diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, peptic ulcer, eczema, hypertension. Their occurrence and course occurs under the influence of a certain external factor.
Managed Risk Factor: Definition
A controlled factor is one that, if desired by a person, his determination, perseverance and willpower, can be eliminated:
- smoking. People who are used to breathing tobacco smoke regularly are twice as likely to die from heart disease than non-smokers. The risk factor is one cigarette that can increase pressure for 15 minutes, and with constant smoking, vascular tone increases and the effectiveness of drugs decreases. When smoking 5 cigarettes per day, the risk of death increases by 40%, packs - by 400%.
- Alcohol abuse. Minimal alcohol consumption significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. The likelihood of death is increased in people who abuse alcohol.
- Excessive weight. Not only increases the risk of the disease, but also extremely negatively affects the already present diseases. The danger is so-called central obesity, when fat is deposited on the stomach. The most common cause of being overweight is a family risk factor. This is a habit of overeating, inactivity (lack of physical activity), a diet with a high content of carbohydrates and fats.
- Constant heavy physical activity. This is considered to be hard work, performed for most of the day and associated with active movement, severe fatigue, lifting or carrying weights. Professional sports associated with chronic excessive loads on the musculoskeletal system (bodybuilding, weightlifting) several times increase the risk of osteoporosis due to constant joint loads.
- Inadequate physical activity is also a manageable risk factor. This is a negative effect on body tone, a decrease in body stamina, and a decrease in resistance to external factors.
- Improper nutrition. May be due to:
- eating without hunger,
- the use of large quantities of salt, sugar, fatty and fried foods,
- eating on the go, at night, in front of the TV or reading a newspaper,
- eating too much or too little
- lack of fruits and vegetables
- wrong breakfast or lack thereof,
- hearty late dinner
- lack of an approximate diet,
- drinking insufficient water
- exhaustion of the body by various diets and starvation.
- Stress. In this state, the body does not function fully, thereby causing the development of various kinds of diseases, and acute stress can become the impetus for a heart attack that carries a danger to life.
The presence of at least one of the mentioned risk factors increases mortality by 3 times, a combination of several - by 5-7 times.
Joint diseases
The most common joint diseases in humans are:
• osteoarthrosis. The risk of the disease increases in proportion to age: after 65 years, 87% of people are affected by osteoarthrosis, while up to 45 years - 2%;
• osteoporosis is a systemic disease accompanied by a decrease in bone strength, which increases the risk of fractures even with minimal injury. Most often found in women over 60;
• osteochondrosis - a disease of the spine in which there is a degenerative-dystrophic lesion of the vertebral bodies, intervertebral discs, ligaments and muscles.
Key risk factors for joint diseases
In addition to common risk factors (heredity, age, overweight), which pose a danger to the whole body, can cause joint diseases:
- poor nutrition, provoking a deficiency of trace elements in the body;
- bacterial infection;
- injuries
- excessive physical activity or, conversely, lack of exercise;
- operations performed on the joints;
- overweight.
Nervous system diseases
The most common diseases of the central nervous system are:
• Stress is a constant companion of the modern lifestyle, especially for residents of large cities. This condition is aggravated by an unsatisfactory financial situation, social decline, crisis, personal and family problems. About 80% of the adult population of developed countries lives with constant stress.
• Chronic fatigue syndrome. A familiar phenomenon of the modern world, especially relevant for the able-bodied population. Burnout syndrome, expressed as fatigue, weakness, lethargy, lack of psychological tone, followed by a feeling of indifference, hopelessness and a complete lack of desire to do anything, is considered the extreme degree of the syndrome.
• Neurosis. Conditioned by life in megacities, the competitive nature of modern society, the rapidity of production, trade and consumption, information overload.
Risk Factors for Nervous System Diseases
The main risk factors for diseases of the nervous system are as follows:
- protracted diseases and frequent relapses lead to disruption of the coordinated functioning of the immune system and depletion of vitality, thereby loading the activity of the nervous system;
- frequent depression, anxiety, gloomy thoughts causing overwork and constant fatigue;
- lack of holidays and weekends;
- misconduct: stable lack of sleep, prolonged physical or mental strain, lack of fresh air and sunlight;
- viruses and infections. According to the existing theory, herpes viruses, cytomegaloviruses, enteroviruses, retroviruses, causing a feeling of chronic fatigue, enter the body;
- effects that cause weakening of the body, immune and psychological resistance (surgical interventions, anesthesia, chemotherapy, non-ionizing radiation (computers);
- intense monotonous work;
- psycho-emotional chronic stress;
- lack of interest in life and life prospects;
- hypertension, vegetative-vascular dystonia, chronic diseases of the genital tract;
- menopause
Factors causing respiratory diseases
One of the most widespread are respiratory diseases, a terrible variety of which is lung cancer. Chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - the list is far from complete, but very dangerous.
Risk factors for respiratory diseases:
- smoking (active and passive). Smokers in 90% of cases run the risk of developing chronic lung disease;
- air pollution: dust, smog, smoke, microparticles of various materials, cleaning products cause respiratory diseases and cause their heavy leakage. The work of the respiratory system is negatively affected by enthusiasm for household chemicals, the use of cheap materials, pollution in residential premises;
- obesity, overweight, causing shortness of breath and requiring increased work of the cardiovascular system;
- allergens
- occupational hazards present during work in production, namely in machine building, mining, coal industry;
- weak immunity.
Risk factors for diseases of the blood-forming and immune systems
A serious problem of the present is the deficit of immunity, which is determined in many respects by irrational and unbalanced nutrition, adverse environmental factors and bad habits. If the immune system is well-established, the path to viruses and germs is ordered. Failure of the immune system causes the onset of diseases of various systems, including hematopoietic. These are leukemia, anemia, and diseases associated with coagulation disorders.
The main risk factors for diseases of the blood forming organs and the immune system:
- genetic predisposition;
- menstrual irregularities;
- acute and chronic blood loss;
- surgical interventions;
- chronic infections of the genitourinary system and gastrointestinal tract;
- medicinal burdens;
- fungal and parasitic infections;
- ionizing radiation, ultraviolet radiation;
- occupational hazards;
- carcinogenic chemicals that make up paints, varnishes;
- nutritional supplements;
- pregnancy, lactation;
- malnutrition;
- radioactive radiation.