B5: Communicable Diseases Flashcards
What is health?
The state of physical and mental well-being
What factors affect health?
Diet, stress and life situation
What can risk factors be?
Aspects of a person’s life or substances in the person’s body or environment
What are examples of causal mechansims?
The effect of alcohol on brain and liver damage, the effects of diet, smoking and exercise on cardiovascular disease and the effect of smoking on lung cancer and lung disease
What are benign tumours?
Growths of abnormal cells which are contained in one area, usually within a membrane and do not invade other parts of the body
What are malignant tumours?
Cancers, which invade neighbouring tissues and spread to different parts of the body in the blood where they form secondary tumours
How can microorganisms spread?
Direct contact, water or air
How does bacteria make us ill?
They release toxins that damage tissues
How do viruses make us ill?
They live and reproduce inside cells
What is an example of a viral disease?
Measles, HIV and tobacco mosaic
What are symptoms of measles? How is it spread?
Fever and a red rash. It is spread by inhalation of droplets from sneezing
What are symptoms of HIV? How is it spread?
Flu-like symptoms. It is spread from sexual contact or exchange of bodily fluids from needles.
What are examples of bacterial diseases?
Salmonella and gonorrhoea
How is salmonella spread?
Unprepared food
What are symptoms of salmonella?
Fever, abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea.
What are symptoms of gonorrhoea?
Thick yellow or green discharge and pain when urinating
How can the spread of gonorrhoea be prevented?
Treatment with antibiotics or use of a condom
What is an example of fungal diseases?
Rose black spot
How is rose black spot spread?
Water or wind
How can the spread of rose black spot be prevented?
Using fungicides and/or removing and destroying affected leaves
How is the spread of malaria prevented?
Preventing vectors (mosquitos) from breeding and by using mosquito nets to avoid being bitten
What does a vaccination involve?
Introducing small quantities of the dead or inactive version of the pathogen to stimulate white blood cells to produce antibodies
What are antibiotics and give an example?
Medicines that cure bacterial diseases only. Penicillin is a good example.
Give examples of where drugs were extracted from plant organisms
The heart drug, digitalis originates form foxgloves and aspirin comes from willow
What is being tested on in preclinical trials?
Cells, tissues and live animals
What is being tested on in clinical trials?
Healthy volunteers and patients
What are the 3 steps in the process of clinical trials?
Low doses are given, if it is safe, further trials are carried out with the optimum dose and in double blind trials, some patients are given a placebo
What are the 3 steps in the process of clinical trials?
Low doses are given, if it is safe, further trials are carried out with the optimum dose and in double blind trials, some patients are given a placebo
How are monoclonal antibodies produced?
Stimulating mouse lymphocytes, Lymphocytes are combined with a tumour cell to make a hybridoma, which can divide and make the antibody. Hybridoma cells are cloned to produce identical ones and a large amount are purified.
What are some ways monoclonal antibodies can be used?
In labs to measure levels of hormones and other chemicals in the blood, to treat diseases like cancer, where the monoclonal antibody binds to a radioactive substance which stops division. They can also locate specific molecules in a cell by binding them to fluorescent dye
What are 4 ways plant diseases can be detected by?
Stunted growth, spots on leaves, the presence of pests and rotting
What are ways a plant disease can be identified?
Using testing kits that contain monoclonals, taking infected plant to the lab and reference to a gardening manual
What deficiency causes stunted growth? What deficiency causes chlorosis?
Nitrate. Magnesium
What are physical defence responses in plants?
Cellulose cell wall, tough waxy cuticle and layers of dead cells around stems and barks which fall off
What are chemical defence responses in plants?
Antibacterial chemicals and poisons to deter herbivores
What are mechanical adaptations in plants that prevent diseases?
Thorns and hairs to deter animals, leaves that curl when touched and mimicry to trick animals
What are 3 ways that pathogens can be spread?
Air, water and direct contact
Are viruses living organisms?
No
What is the function of antiretroviral drugs?
Stop the virus from replicating
What kind of organisms are fungi?
Eukaryotic
What are parasites?
Microorganisms that live inside another organism
How does the skin prevent entry of microorganisms?
Physical barrier, produces oils and antimicrobial substances that kill pathogens
How does the nose prevent entry of microorganisms?
Have hairs and lots of mucus, trapping pathogens
How does the trachea prevent entry of microorganisms?
Covered in mucus, trapping pathogens and lined with cilia which moves and traps pathogens
What are advantages of vaccines?
Prevents epidemics, protects you from disease and controls common diseases like smallpox
What are disadvantages of vaccines?
Don’t always work, bad reactions like swelling
