TOPIC 1C 1 RISK, CORRELATION AND CAUSE

What is risk?

1. The probability of something happening, how likely is something to happen.

Most people perceive risk accurately, true or false?

1. false

What factors affect the perception of risk?

1. How familiar are you with the activity

2. How much you enjoy the activity

3. Whether or not you approve of the activity

What is epidemiology?

The study of the patterns of diseases and their causes.

What is a multifactorial disease?

1. A disease that has many factors affecting the chance of whether the person will have it or not.

What is correlation?

1. Correlation is the linkage between two variables (the relationship between two sets of data).

What is the difference between correlation and causation?

1. Correlation is the linkage between two variables. While causation is the reason for something to happen.

2. Smoking has a correlation to atherosclerosis, but it does not necessarily cause strokes themselves.

1. Explain the difference between risk, correlation and causation.

1. Risk describes the probability that an event will happen.

2. Correlation is when two different sets of data appear to be similar or linked in some way.

3. Causation is when an event, act, or behavior causes a specific result.

In most areas of the world, the risk of dying from heart disease is about three times greater for smokers than for non-smokers. Explain why this does not mean that an individual person who smokes will die from heart disease.

1. there are many other causes of death than those related to smoking. A smoker may die from one of there before a smoking-related disease kills him or her.

2. Some smokers will have their smoking related disease cured.

3. Not all smokers are adversely affected by smoking—- their genetic make-up may mean smoking-related diseases will not affect them.

The risk of developing diabetes and heart disease liked to obesity are well known. Suggest reason why people stay obese, and why more people are becoming obese.

1. Stay obese: people stay obese because it is hard to lose weight; they like to eat; it isn’t always easy to take exercise; they minimize the risk and assume they will not have problems.

2. More becoming obese: modern food is often high in fats and so high in calories; people do less physical exercise as they drive rather than walk; many jobs are becoming less physical with computers and machines; people spend a lot of time at computers and TVs.