4.3.1.8 Antibiotics and Painkillers

Question 1

What are painkillers?

Answer 1

• drugs that relieve pain
• don’t tackle cause
• don’t kill pathogens
• reduce symptoms

Question 2

What is an example of a painkiller?

Answer 2

• aspirin

Question 3

What are antibiotics?

Answer 3

• drugs that kill or prevent the growth of bacteria that is causing issues without killing own body cells

Question 4

What do different antibiotics kill?

Answer 4

• different bacteria

Question 5

What are the benefits of antibiotics?

Answer 5

• they’ve greatly reduced deaths from communicable diseases

Question 6

What are the negatives of antibiotics?

Answer 6

• don’t kill viruses as they reproduce using own body cells

Question 7

What happens when bacteria become resistant to antibiotics?

Answer 7

• when they mutate, sometimes causes them to be resistant
• only non-resistant strains will be killed
• resistant bacteria will reproduce and survive, increasing resistant strain (natural selection)
• can cause a serious infection that can’t be killed

Question 8

What is an example of a serious infection that can’t be killed by antibiotics?

Answer 8

• MRSA
• causes serious wound infections
• resistant to meticillin

Question 9

How do you slow down the rate of development of resistant strains?

Answer 9

• avoid over-prescribing
• finishing the whole course of antibiotics

Question 10

Where do many drugs come from originally?

Answer 10

• plants
• some of the chemicals they use to kill pests are used as drugs to treat human diseases or relieve symptoms