Question: what is non communicable diseases

Eddie Cano Gamez answered on 11 Jan 2022: last edited 11 Jan 2022 1:01 pm

Non-communicable diseases are diseases which are not caused by an infection. This means they cannot be transmitted from person to person in the way COVID19 is, for example. That’s why they are called non-communicable. Examples of these diseases are obesity, diabetes, or atherosclerosis, but also things like asthma, or autoimmune diseases, or even depression and anxiety. Most of these diseases are partly genetic and partly caused by different factors in our lifestyle or environment.

To me the term non-communicable is kind of confusing though, because even though these are not infections and you can not pass them on in that way, they are still transmissible in other senses of the word. For example, if your family has unhealthy eating habits, diabetes and atherosclerosis can be presented in many family members. In fact, if a whole country has unhealthy habits you can get what almost looks like an epidemic of obesity (if everyone consumes sugary drinks, for example) or lung cancer (if most people smoke). So some of these diseases are transmitted “culturally” by shared habits, and that is why governments have introduced taxes to things like cigarettes or very sugary food: to tackle this problem. Similarly, having a parent with depression increases your odds of having depression or anxiety too, because they won’t be able to care for you in the same way a healthy parent would. And so mental disorders in one person also spread to/affect those around them.

Moral of the story: non-communicable diseases are any diseases which cannot be passed on from person to person by a physical particle (such as a virus or a bacteria). Thus, they are the opposite of infections. However, they can still be passed on by means of shared habits or transmission of cultural values.