B6 Flashcards
what are antibiotics
a type of medicine which is used to kill bacteria (not viruses) in our body
what are antiseptics
used to kill microorganisms in our environment
what are painkillers
medicines which relieve pains but not cure/treat them
what are disinfectants
chemical liquids used to destroy bacteria
who discovered the first antibiotic and what was it
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin
why cant antibiotics kill viruses
as viruses replicate inside human cells so it gets difficult to kill the virus without damaging your cells
why is the overuse of antibiotics dangerous
because bacteria can develop strains of DNA which make the bacteria resistant to antibiotics.
how do vaccines work
a small dose of a dead or inactive pathogen is injected into the body and since the pathogen is dead or inactive it wont do the body much harm. the pathogens then stimulate the body’s immune system into creating antibodies and antitoxins to counteract the pathogen. so next time if you’re infected with the same pathogen the body can rapidly create the antibodies and antitoxins needed to kill the pathogen.
what is herd immunity
its when a large portion of the community is immune to a disease so its spread is reduced and the disease may disappear.
whats a double blind trial
its when a new drug is given out to be tested with a fake drug known as a placebo but the patients now the doctors know which drug is the fake or real one
why is a placebo also used with the real drug
to remove the biasness from the test
what are drugs normally tested for
toxicity - checking if it does or doesn’t harm the body
dosage - how much of the drug is required to treat the disease
efficacy - to see if it’ll actually work and how effective is it
how are drug tested for in the preclinical trials
Drugs are tested using computer models and human cells
in the laboratory
Drugs that pass the first stage are tested on animals
Drugs that have passed animal tests are used in clinical
trials
how are drugs tested in the clinical trials
Firstly low doses are given to healthy volunteers to check for side effects
If its safe it is then tried on a small number of patients to see if
treats disease and side effects
Bigger trials then follow to find the optimum dose
how are monoclonal antibodies produced
tumour cells which divide rapidly but don’t make antibodies and lymphocytes taken from rats which do make antibodies are then fused together to make hybridoma cells. these cells then divide making antibodies. these antibodies are then collected and purified
