5 - Health, Disease and the Development of Medicines

Question 1

Give the definition of health?

Answer 1

Health is the state of physical and mental well-being

Question 2

True or false? Communicable diseases can be spread between people, or between animals and people.

Answer 2

True

Communicable diseases are contagious

Question 3

Give two examples of non-communicable diseases

Answer 3

Examples of non-communicable diseases include: asthma, cancer and coronary heart disease

Question 4

HIV is a virus that causes damage to the immune system. How would having HIV affect the likelihood of a person contracting a communicable disease, such as tuberculosis?

Answer 4

HIV would make a person more likely to contract communicable diseases, because their body is less able to defend itself against pathogens

Question 5

Suggest how a person’s life situation could have an effect on their health

Answer 5

A person’s health could be affected by whether they have easy access to medicines to treat illness, or access to things that would prevent them from getting ill in the first place, such as healthy food or condoms.

Question 6

Give two factors, other than disease and life situation, that can affect a person’s health

Answer 6

E.g. diet and stress

Question 7

What is a stent? How do stents reduce the risk of heart attacks?

Answer 7

A stent is a tube that is inserted inside an artery. Stents keep coronary arteries open, so oxygenated blood can flow to the heart muscle.

Question 8

What is one disadvantage of using stents?

Answer 8

There is a risk of complication during the operation, a risk of infection from surgery, and a risk of patients developing thrombosis (a blood clot) near the stent

Question 9

Angelica has developed coronary heart disease. Describe the changes that have occurred in her coronary arteries. What are the consequences of these changes?

Answer 9

The coronary arteries that supply blood to Angelica’s heart have been blocked by layers of fatty material building up. This has narrowed the arteries, restricting the blood flow, which reduces the amount of oxygen that reaches the heart muscle

Question 10

How might statins help to treat coronary heart disease?

Answer 10

Statins reduce cholesterol in the blood, slowing down the rate of fatty deposit formation

Question 11

Mitral regurgitation is when one of the heart valves is leaky. Give one consequence of this disorder. Suggest how mitral regurgitation could be treated.

Answer 11

A leaky value could cause blood to circulate less effectively, as blood will flow in both directions. The valve could be replaced with a biological valve or with a man-made mechanical valve.

Question 12

Raoul has heart failure and is fitted with an artificial heart. Outline how this compares to having a heart transplant using a real donor heart.

Answer 12

An artificial valve is less likely to be rejected by Raoul’s immune system than a donor heart. However, blood doesn’t flow through an artificial heart as smoothly, so Raoul will have to take drugs to thin his blood, which can cause problems with bleeding. Parts of the artificial heart could also wear out or the electrical motor could fail

Question 13

How does the stomach help to defend the body against pathogens?

Answer 13

The stomach produces hydrochloric acid, which kills pathogens that reach the stomach

Question 14

Describe the role of antibodies when somebody is first infected with a pathogen

Answer 14

Specific antibodies are produced by white blood cells to lock onto specific antigens on a pathogen. This is so the pathogen can be found and destroyed. The antibodies are rapidly multiplied and transported around the body to find similar pathogens.

Question 15

Outline how a vaccination protects a person from future infections.

Answer 15

The person is injected with a small amount of a dead or inactive pathogen. The immune system produces antibodies specific to the antigens on the pathogens. In the future, if the person is infected by the live version of the same pathogen, then their white blood cells can rapidly produce the antibodies needed to kill it off

Question 16

If a large proportion has been vaccinated, outbreaks of a disease can be prevented. Why isn’t it necessary for the entire population to have had the vaccination in order to prevent outbreaks

Answer 16

If most of the population has had the vaccination, then even the people who have not been vaccinated are unlikely to get the disease, because there are fewer people who are able to pass it to them

Question 17

What are pathogens?

Answer 17

Microorganisms that cause communicable diseases

Question 18

Bacteria, viruses and fungi are examples of types of pathogens. Give one other example of a type of pathogen.

Answer 18

Protists

Question 19

Cholera is a disease that is spread by water. How could a person pick up the pathogen that causes cholera?

Answer 19

The pathogen could be picked up by drinking or bathing in contaminated water

Question 20

Give two other ways that diseases can be spread

Answer 20

Diseases can be spread by air, by direct contact, through eating contaminated food and through exchanging infected bodily fluids.

Question 21

State one way that the spread of malaria could be controlled.

Answer 21

By preventing mosquitos from breeding or by using mosquito nets to prevent mosquitos from biting people.

Question 22

HIV can be spread by sexual contact. Give one other way that HIV can be spread

Answer 22

The sharing of needles between drug users. This is because HIV spreads through the exchange of bodily fluids, and sharing needles can cause the exchange of blood.

Question 23

Describe the long term effects of HIV if it is not successfully controlled with drugs

Answer 23

The virus will attack the immune system cells, and over time, the immune system will become so damaged that it can no longer cope with other infections or cancers. This is called late stage HIV infection, or AIDS

Question 24

Describe the role of mosquitos in the spread of malaria.

Answer 24

A mosquito picks up the malarial protist when it feeds on an infected animal. The mosquito acts as a vector (it carries the protist without getting the disease itself). Each time it feeds on another animal, it infects it by inserting the protist into the animal’s blood vessels.

Question 25

True or false? Antibiotics are used to treat viruses

Answer 25

False

Antibiotics only work on bacteria

Question 26

Drugs used to be extracted from plants and other organisms. How are most new drugs made today?

Answer 26

Most new drugs are made by chemists in labs. However, they might still begin with a chemical that’s been extracted from a plant

Question 27

Sophia has been given painkillers and antibiotics to help treat her chest infection. Describe the role of both painkillers and antibiotics in her treatment.

Answer 27

Painkillers will help treat the symptoms of Sophia’s infection while antibiotics will kill the pathogen causing the infection.

Question 28

Who discovered penicillin? How was it discovered?

Answer 28

Alexander Fleming discovered it by finding the penicillium mould on a Petri dish of bacteria was producing a substance which killed the bacteria