B6 Preventing And Treating Disease Flashcards
Who originally used aspirin and what was it used to treat
Native americans used to chew on bark of a willow tree to reduce pain. Willow bark contains salycilic acid which is now the main ingredient for aspirin
Who originally used quinin and what was it used to treat
The quechua indians of peru used to ground up bark of the cinchona tree. It contained quinine which prevented shivering and we use it now to treat malaria.
Who originally used penicillin and what was it used to treat
Discovered by scientist Alexander Fleming unintentionally when he was tidying his laboratory and found a petri dish with a mould growing on it. He saw the mould killed the bacteria around it. He then worked out what bacteria penicillin could kill.
Who originally used morphine and what was it used to treat
Ancient greek doctors discovered this from unripe seedpods of opium poppies
Who originally used tea tree and what was it used to treat
He australian aborigines rubbed the leaves from the tea tree plant onto their cuts. Recently it has been proven to kill anitbiotic-resistant bacteria
What are the three feautures of a good drug
Effective, safe, stable
What must a drug do to be a good drug
it must prevent or cure a disease, or treat symptoms
VWhat is needed for a good drug to be safe
It must not be too toxic or have dangerous side effects
What is needed for a good drug to be stable
must be able to use the medicine under normal conditions and store it for some time
What is the price to get a drug to your doctors surgery?
1.7billion per drug
What is the process to get a drug to your doctors surgery
Drugs are first tested in a lab using cells, tissues and living animals (preclinical trials)
Then tested in clinical trials using healthy voulenteers and patients
If no side effects are seen, further trials are used to find the optimum dose for the drug
What is a placebo
A fake drug used in clinical trials. Similar to the real drug but doesnt contain the active ingredient
Why are double blind trials the best type of trial.
So there is no bias in the results.
What are the two main types of respiration?
Aerobic and Anaerobic Respiration
What are the three main ways to reduce or prevent the spread of disease?
- Being hygienic
- Destroying vectors
- Vaccinating people or animals
What does vaccination do
helps the immune system to develop defenses against communicable diseases.
What role do white blood cells play in the immune system?
They can digest foreign cells and signal other parts of the body.
What does destroying vectors do and how do they do it
They prevent the spread of disease by getting rid of organisms which spread them. Verctors that are insects can be killed so they dont breed
What does the stomach produce that kills pathogens
Hydrochloric acid
Wyat is the most important part of the immune system
White blood cells
What are the molecukes called that every pathogen contains
Antigens
What do white blood cellsdo when they come across a foreign antigen
They will start to produce proteins called antibodies. They lock onto invasing cells so other white blood cells can help kill them. The anitbodies produced are specific for that on etype of antigen so they wont lock onto any other antigen
Why are antibidies sent out rapidly around the body
So they can find similar bacteria or viruses to kill
What happens if a person is infected by the same pathogen again
They white blood cells in their bidy will rapidly produce antibodies to kill it meanign the person will become natyrally immune to that pathogen and wont be ill
What do white blood cells peoduce (2)
Antibodies and antitoxins
Why do white blood cells send out anti toxins
To counteract toxins peoduced by invading bacteria
Why is it possibke to become ill when infected with a pathogen
The immune system ans mainly white blood cells sometimes take a few days to learn how to deal with the pathogen and by this tim ethe person may already be ill
What is vaccinating
Injecting small amounts of desd or inactive pathogen into the body so the immune system canunderstand how to desl with the disease peotecting the body from future infections
What do vaccines contain
Weekend versions of the virus they are targetting. These weekend versions arent harmful to the body instead they cause your bidy to create antibodies to attack the virus so in the future the body will understand how to treat it
What are two pros about vaccines
They have helped control the spread of many communicable diseases
Big out breaks of diseases (epidermics) can be prevented if a large number of the population gets vaccinated. Even if there are people without vaccinations it is unlikely they will catch the dissase as few people will have the disease to pass it on
Two cons about vaccines
Sometimes they dont work and dont give you immunity
Some people csn have a bad reaction to a vaccine however this is rare
What is the process of drug testing on humans in a clinical trial
Firstly the drug is tested on healthy volunteers to make sure there arent any harmful side effects when body is working normally. At the start of the trial a very low dose is given and it slowly increases. If the results are good on the healthy volunteers then they use people who are suffering from the illness. The optimum dose is found - the drug thst is most effective snd has the least effects.
How do you test the effectiveness of a drug
Patients are radnomly put into two groups. One group is given the drug and the other group is given a placebo. This is so the doctor can see actual difference the drug makes. These clinical trials are blind (the patient in the study doesnt know whether theyre getting the drug or the placebo. Sometimes theyre double blind where neither the patient nor the doctors knows until results are gathered.
What is a placebo
A substance thats like the drug beung tested by doesnt do anything
Why is it more fair if clinical tests are double blinded?
Ao the doctors monitoring the patients and analysing the results arent subconsciously influenced by their knowledge
What needs to happen before the results of the clinical drug testing are published and why?
The results of the drug testing has to go through peer review which helps prevent false claims
What are the three main stages in drug testing
Testing the drugs on human cells and tissues
Testing the drugs on live animals
Testing the drugs on healthy then infected humans
