HIGH LEVELS OF PREVENTABLE CHRONIC DIEASE, INJURY AND MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS Let s look at CANCER AS A WHOLE. What is the nature of the problem? Well, cancer is the growth of cells within the body. We often classify cancers by the affected cell type. Carcinomas originate in tissue, such as the skin or organ linings Sarcomas originate in tissue, such as the bone cells originate in tissues that produce blood cells originate in lymph tissue. Some terms that we need to get our heads around when we talk about cancer include: - these are when cells multiply and form swelling cells which are cancer cells that do not spread around your body is a term used to describe cancer that spreads around the body Metastasis is the term given to secondary cancer. The cancer cells breaks away from the primary site and travels through the circulatory and lymphatic systems to form cancer in a new area of the body. Now, let s look at the extent of the problem Cancer accounts for the second most amount of deaths in Australia. The most common form of cancer in males is cancer, whilst the most common form in females is cancer. Although the rates of cancer related deaths have dropped since the mid 1980 s, there has been an increase in the number of new cases identified. This is due to things like screenings and awareness to go and get check ups regularly. And because of increased awareness, early detection and advances in technology, more people are surviving. Now let s identify the various risk factors and protective factors of cancer Non modifiable risk factors include: Genetics Family history of cancer Gender for example, males can develop prostate cancer AND age. The older you get, the higher your risk of developing the disease Modifiable risk factors include: Lifestyle choices AS WELL AS individuals being exposed to carcinogens
And Protective factors of cancer include: - regular checkups with a medical professional - as well as an individual performing regular personal examinations themselves, for example a woman checking her own breasts for lumps each month - Avoiding or protecting yourself from carcinogens - Early medical intervention or treatment if cancer is detected Looking at cancer as a whole we need to look at the Socioeconomic, Sociocultural and Environmental Determinants of health. In terms of socioeconomic status, people with lower levels of,, income and wealth have rates of diseases such as cancer. They also have risk taking behaviours such as smoking, less likely to use sunscreen, physical inactivity, overweight/obese and poor eating habits. Furthermore, they have less access to health products, services and facilities due to their education and/or income. As you can see this is very similar to CVD. Your level of employment also impacts of your ability to healthy foods, sunscreen and spend money on screening. Education levels impacts on of risk factors and also job opportunities. This means lower levels of education can potentially make individuals more likely to work outdoors. If we look at sociocultural determinants more closely we will see that ATSI s have higher levels of cancer due to lower levels of Socio Economic Status, employment and education We will also see that Non-English speaking background have less access to health facilities and services due to problems and lack of knowledge of what is available. And finally the environmental determinants: People who live in rural locations generally have higher rates of smoking and levels, lower SES, employment and education. Looking at these examples, you can see that many of these determinants will link to more than one type of cancer. Finally, the GROUPS AT RISK of cancer include: - ATSI - Those with a low socioeconomic status - Those partaking in risky behaviours, such as smoking cigarettes, those who do not wear sunscreen or UV protective clothing - Individuals who work outside - Those with particular genetic make-up. Such as those who are fair skinned are more susceptible to developing skin cancer - Males: for example developing prostate cancer - Females: for example developing breast cancer
Now let s investigate the 3 specific types of cancer. Remember we will identify the determinants after going through all 3 cancers. SKIN CANCER So lets have a look at Skin cancer in a bit more depth. NATURE: Skin cancers range from which are sun spots or freckles, to basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and Malignant. Malignant melanomas are aggressive form of cancer that throughout the body and can damage many organs in the body. EXTENT: Overall, Non-melanoma skin cancer has become the prevalent form of cancer in Australia. The non-modifiable risk factors for skin cancer are : - Fair skin, freckles and/or red hair - males are more likely due to their risk taking behaviour The modifiable risk factors include: - being out in the sun too long without taking precautions. - Not wearing hat, sunscreen, clothing - occupation is outdoors (like those who are builders, tilers, PE teachers) - and geographic location (like those people living in the outback) So what are our protective factors? - the time spent out in the sun - Slip, slop, slap, seek shade, slip on sunglasses - AND regular check ups if you are a person who works outside GROUPS: So seeing this we can easily identify which groups are at risk of skin cancer. They can include - males (this is because there are more males working outside, for examples, as ) - people born with fair skin, red hair, freckles, - workers - and people who don t cover up in the sun BREAST CANCER EXTENT: While breast cancer is still the most prevalent form of cancer in females, the incidence levels have remained stable since the early 1990 s.
The non modifiable Risk Factors can include - being female - women who have a history - women over 40 years of age Whilst the modifiable risk factors are: - people who are obese - Women who did not breast feed their babies - Women that take the pill Some protective Factors that are important to use and that have become very common include: - Making sure that you receive regular check ups especially if you are over the age of 40 or have a family history of cancer - Conducting a regular examination - Maintain a healthy weight GROUPS: and finally the groups at risk are easy to identify as being: - Women - People over 40 - Women without children LUNG CANCER Whilst the incidence of Lung cancer in has decreased in the past few decades, the rates in has slightly increased over the same time period. The non modifiable risk factors include: - family history - AND age And the modifiable risk factors are: - Smoking tobacco or passive smoking - air pollution - exposure to in the air (including asbestos). A lot of awareness and changes have been made in our society to combat these risk factors such as awareness and laws that are in place to stop passive smoking from occurring. Whilst Protective Factors for lung cancer can include: - not smoking or being around smokers - avoiding to harmful particles in the air or dangerous inhalants
And the groups most at risk are those people who or work with. As for the sociocultural, socioeconomic and environmental determinants for, and cancer, you can see that they can exist across more than one type of cancer. For example, the determinants education and living in and areas are determinants for all three types of cancers.