Health issues: Students should be able to describe the relationship between health and disease and the interactions between different types of disease.

The idea

Health is a state of physical and mental well-being, not merely the absence of disease. Many factors interact to affect health, including communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases, diet, stress, life situations and access to healthcare. Different types of disease can interact. A communicable disease can make a non-communicable disease worse; for example, a chest infection can worsen asthma or bronchitis. A weakened immune system caused by a non-communicable disease or by treatment such as immunosuppressant drugs can make a person more likely to catch communicable diseases. Some viruses can trigger certain cancers, and mental health problems can affect physical health. Describing these links means explaining cause and effect, not just listing diseases.

What earns the marks

• Define health as a state of physical and mental well-being, not just the absence of disease.
• Identify factors that affect health, such as diet, stress, life situations and healthcare.
• Describe how a communicable disease can worsen a non-communicable disease, for example a chest infection worsening asthma.
• Explain how a non-communicable disease or its treatment can weaken the immune system and increase the risk of communicable disease.
• Give an example of a virus triggering cancer, such as HPV and cervical cancer.
• Describe how mental health problems can affect physical health and vice versa.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Defining health as simply 'not being ill'.

  Put it right by including physical and mental well-being.

• Treating communicable and non-communicable diseases as completely separate.

  Put it right by giving an example where one affects the other.

• Assuming a weakened immune system only causes allergies.

  Put it right by linking it to increased risk of communicable disease.

Exam tips

• Use a named example for each interaction, such as a chest infection worsening asthma.
• Write cause and effect sentences: 'because the immune system is weakened, the person is more likely to...'.
• If asked to describe, give the link between the diseases rather than listing many diseases.