Non-communicable disease

Communicable and non-communicable diseases are major causes of ill health, but they are not the only influences. Diet, stress and life situations can have profound effects on physical and mental health. These influences can combine rather than acting separately.

A non-communicable disease cannot spread from one organism to another. It is not caught through contact with an affected person, contaminated water or any other route of pathogen transmission.

A non-communicable disease cannot be caught from someone who has it. Cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and many forms of cancer are examples. Their development may involve factors such as diet, smoking, inherited risk or changes within the body's cells.

Can it pass from one organism to another?** This separates communicable diseases from non-communicable diseases. The distinction concerns cause and transmission, not how serious the disease is or what symptoms it produces.