Key Factors Influencing Health and Common Diseases
Key Determinants of Health
Our health depends on many factors, some unchangeable (hereditary factors) and others modifiable (lifestyle habits). The elements involved in our health can be grouped into four sections:
Environment
Global atmospheric pollution causes many diseases. Environmental quality is of paramount importance. Poor environments are the cause of many diseases and deaths.
- Physical pollutants: Include dust, heat, and radiation.
- Chemical contaminants: Some are of various types and sources: combustion of gases, emitted hydrocarbons, carbon, organic compounds, etc.
- Biological pollutants: Viruses, bacteria, algae, arthropods, and other parasites produce infectious diseases like typhus.
- Social and labor relations: Several factors of labor and social nature are related to the environment surrounding us, threatening the individual’s health.
Personal Lifestyle
These habits include:
- Exercising regularly
- Not smoking
- Reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption
- Avoiding drugs
- Eating a healthy diet
- Maintaining personal hygiene
Biological Factors
Genes and mutations are likely to cause diseases. Among the best-known hereditary diseases are hemophilia, color blindness, phenylketonuria, and cystic fibrosis.
Healthcare System
The healthcare system is the means by which a country organizes and finances health protection and the provision of medical services to its citizens. In Spain, it is structured through the National Health System and parallel subsystems. Our National Health System is characterized by universal coverage and funding through taxes, according to income, to guarantee equal access to resources and services.
Noninfectious Diseases
Cancer
There is an abnormal growth of cells.
Endocrine, Nutritional, and Metabolic Disorders
- Anorexia: A severe eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight and a distortion of the body’s image.
- Bulimia: A nervous disorder closely related to anorexia. Many patients suffer from both disorders.
Cardiovascular Diseases
Affects the heart and blood vessels. They are the leading cause of death in most developed countries.
- Stroke: The brain suddenly stops receiving blood. It may be due to a clot plugging an artery or a ruptured blood vessel.
- Heart attack: When there is an obstruction of the coronary arteries, the heart muscle stops receiving oxygen.
- Atherosclerosis: A thickening and hardening of the arterial walls. It is produced by age or by the accumulation of cholesterol plaques on the arterial wall.
- Hypertension: This occurs when the blood pressure exerted on the artery walls exceeds the established limits. The limits are 140 for systolic and 90 for diastolic.
Mental Illnesses
Psychosis, organic disorders, affective disorders, neurosis, and anxiety disorders.
Degenerative Diseases
These are conditions where unexplained injuries occur in organs and tissues, altering their normal functioning.
- Alzheimer’s disease: Progressive and terminal, it usually affects people over 65 years old. The patient loses recent memory and modifies their behavior.
- Parkinson’s disease: A disease affecting the neurons responsible for the control and coordination of movement. The patient has tremors, stiffness of muscles, slowness of movement, and alterations in position and gait.
Emerging and Reemerging Diseases
- New diseases: Those whose recent appearance is due to the emergence of new pathogens to humans, crossing the species barrier and passing from animals to humans (AIDS, avian flu, etc.).
- Emerging diseases: Although known before, they have become more prevalent in the past two decades due to new living conditions (tourism, migration, etc.).
- Reemerging diseases: Diseases that were previously controlled, in decline, or missing, but at some point become a health threat and can take the form of an epidemic.