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AQA GCSE Biology 8461

2. Organisation

Non-communicable disease

Coronary heart disease is a non-communicable disease in which fatty material narrows the arteries that feed the heart muscle itself. Everything else in this subtopic is about the ways doctors treat it, and the fact that every one of those treatments has drawbacks as well as benefits.

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What non-communicable disease covers

Every subtopic below has its own questions, mark schemes and notes.

4.2.2.4Coronary heart disease and its treatment

Coronary heart disease is a non-communicable disease in which fatty material narrows the arteries that feed the heart muscle itself. Everything else in this subtopic is about the ways doctors treat it, and the fact that every one of those treatments has drawbacks as well as benefits.

4.2.2.5Health and disease

Health is about more than not being ill, and diseases do not sit in neat separate boxes. This subtopic is about what health means, the split between communicable and non-communicable disease, and the ways one health problem can lead to another.

4.2.2.6Risk factors and lifestyle

A risk factor raises the chance of a disease without guaranteeing it. For some risk factors scientists know exactly how the damage happens; for others there is only a correlation. Telling those two situations apart is what this subtopic is really testing.

4.2.2.7Cancer

Cancer starts when changes to cells make them grow and divide out of control, producing a mass of cells called a tumour. The whole subtopic turns on one distinction: benign tumours stay put, malignant tumours spread — and only malignant tumours are cancers.

Key terms

The definitions examiners expect, in the wording that earns the mark.

Cardiovascular disease — A disease of the heart or of the blood vessels.
Coronary artery — A blood vessel that supplies blood to the heart muscle.
Stent — A tube inserted into an artery to hold it open.
Statin — A drug that lowers the amount of 'bad' cholesterol in the blood.
Thrombosis — The formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel.
Biological valve — A replacement heart valve taken from a human or another mammal.
Mechanical valve — A man-made replacement heart valve.
Health — The state of physical and mental well-being.
Communicable disease — A disease that can spread from person to person or between animals and people.
Non-communicable disease — A disease that cannot spread between people.
Pathogen — A microorganism that causes disease when it infects its host.
Sample — The smaller group actually studied, chosen to stand for a much larger population.
Risk factor — Something linked to an increase in the likelihood of developing a particular disease.
Causal mechanism — A known explanation of how one thing brings about another.
Correlation — A relationship in which two variables change together.
Carcinogen — A substance or type of radiation that causes cancer.
Incidence — How common a disease is in a population.
Tumour — A mass of cells produced by uncontrolled growth and division.
Benign tumour — A tumour that stays in one place, usually within a membrane, and is not a cancer.
Malignant tumour — A tumour whose cells invade other tissues and spread in the blood; malignant tumours are cancers.
Secondary tumour — A new tumour formed elsewhere in the body from cells that broke off a malignant tumour.
Mutation — A change to a gene.

Where marks get lost

The mistakes that come up again and again in this topic.

  • Explain questions want the whole chain: fatty material, narrower artery, less blood flow, less oxygen, heart muscle cannot work. Skipping the middle steps loses marks.
  • The coronary arteries supply the heart muscle, not the blood inside the chambers.
  • Evaluate questions need both sides and a justified conclusion. Listing only advantages will not reach the top marks.
  • A stent is a device fitted by surgery; a statin is a drug taken regularly. Mixing them up is the single most common error on this page.
  • 'Health' is not simply 'not being ill' — the definition must mention physical and mental well-being.
  • Contagious and infectious both mean communicable. Do not offer them as a contrast.
  • When asked how diseases interact, name a specific pair, for example HPV and cervical cancer, rather than saying vaguely that 'diseases can affect each other'.
  • For sampling questions, three words earn the marks: large, representative, random.
  • Never write that a risk factor 'means you will get' a disease. It increases the likelihood.
  • If the question asks you to explain how a risk factor causes a disease, name the damage: arteries for smoking and cardiovascular disease, lung lining for lung cancer, insulin resistance for Type 2 diabetes.
  • Data questions often want you to say that a graph shows a correlation, not a cause. Say so explicitly.
  • Human cost means lives and quality of life; financial cost means money. Sort your points into the right column before you write.
  • Not every tumour is a cancer. Only malignant tumours are cancers.
  • Malignant cells spread in the blood — say the route, not just that they 'spread'.
  • 'Uncontrolled cell growth and division' is the phrase examiners look for; 'cells growing fast' is not enough.
  • A genetic risk factor makes a cancer more likely, not certain — a faulty BRCA gene raises the likelihood of breast and ovarian cancer.

Other topics

Cell biology Transport in cells Cell division Organisation in animals Enzymes and the human digestive system Plant tissues, organs and systems Communicable disease and plant defences Preventing and treating disease Monoclonal antibodies Photosynthesis Respiration Homeostasis and the nervous system Hormonal coordination DNA, genes and variation Reproduction Evolution and Classification Adaptations, interdependence and competition Organisation of an ecosystem Humans and biodiversity Working scientifically Practical skills

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