Global Patterns of Disease

IB Geography II

Objective

• By the end of this lesson, students will be able to: – explain the global distribution of diseases of

poverty. – explain the global distribution of diseases of

affluence. – These objectives are also very possible exam

questions!

Starting Activity:

• Look at the 2 maps. Without knowing what they show, do you think there is there is a relationship between them? Why/Why not?

Map1: Undernourishment

Map 2: Childhood Diarrhea

Do you think there is a link between these 2 indicators? What is it?

Key Terms: The number of cases per 10,000 population (includes both new cases and those that contracted the disease in the past and are still surviving with it)

Incidence The number of newly confirmed cases annually

Prevalence

Key Terms:

Communicable Diseases

Infectious diseases

Non-Communicable

Non-infectious, degenerative

Vectors Transmitters of disease, ex: insects

Don’t Forget About Epidemiological Transition

Global Distribution of Diseases

• The chance of an individual succumbing to (dying from) a disease is affected by a range of factors (Many, which are affected by social inequality), including: – where they live– their age– their social circumstances– their lifestyle – environmental factors

Infectious or Communicable Diseases (Diseases of Poverty)

• These diseases may be contagious and transmitted through close human contact or by other vectors.

• They spread rapidly in the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions associated with poverty.

• Common examples: malaria, HIV/AIDS, diarrheal disease

Age-standardized disability-adjusted life year (DALY) rates from Diarrheal diseases by country (per 100,000

inhabitants) - 2004.

Diarrhea Deaths

HIV/AIDS Deaths

Malaria Deaths

Non-Communicable Diseases (Diseases of Affluence)

• Obesity

• Diabetes

• Alcohol

• Smoking

Global Distribution of Diseases of Affluence

Obesity

• What is Obesity?

• Body mass index (BMI) is a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity in adults. It is defined as a person's weight divided by height.

• Obesity is defined as a value over 30 – a person is overweight if their BMI is over 25

Obesity

• Obesity is generally considered to be a disease of the wealthy, although ironically in the richest countries it is often young people living in the less well-off families who are more likely to be overweight

• This is often related to diet, and the lack of exercise which some people attribute to the growth in sedentary lifestyles

• It is also cheaper to feed a child with unhealthy food than it is with healthy food.

Obesity

• Key facts• Worldwide, obesity has more than doubled since

1980. • In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and

older were overweight. • 65% of the world’s population live in countries

where there are more overweight people than underweight people.

• Obesity is preventable.

Type 2 Diabetes

• Type 2 Diabetes is a disease that is growing in prevalence in many countries, and over 200 million people worldwide suffer from it.

• Like obesity, diabetes is related to diet and lifestyle, particularly in those countries where the changing diet has caused an increase in the number of cases.

• Diabetes affects the body’s metabolism, and involves a problem with a hormone called insulin. It is a disease which can be partly managed by being careful over blood sugar monitoring and medication.

• With type 1 diabetes, a daily injection of insulin is required. The risk of developing type 2 diabetes can be dramatically reduced by keeping body weight below that of obesity, and avoiding particular types of food.

Diabetes Deaths

Alcohol Abuse

• The harmful use of alcohol results in 2.5 million deaths each year.

• 320,000 young people between the age of 15 and 29 die from alcohol-related causes, resulting in 9% of all deaths in that age group.

• Alcohol is the world’s third largest risk factor for disease burden; it is the leading risk factor in the Pacific and the Americas and the second largest in Europe.

• Alcohol is associated with many serious social and developmental issues, including violence, child neglect and abuse, and absenteeism in the workplace

Smoking• As with the earlier example of obesity, we need to be careful to

avoid saying that this is more likely to be associated with high income. One of the countries that has the highest proportions of smokers in its population is China, for example.

• Cigarette advertising is now closely controlled in many countries, and there are age restrictions on the purchasing of cigarettes.

Smoking and Tobacco Use

• Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death.

• Worldwide, tobacco use causes nearly 6 million deaths per year, and current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030.

• Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including nearly 42,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. This is about one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day.

Smoking Statistics

• On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.

• If smoking continues at the current rate among U.S. youth, 5.6 million of today’s Americans younger than 18 years of age are expected to die prematurely from a smoking-related illness. This represents about one in every 13 Americans aged 17 years or younger who are alive today.