B6 Preventing and treating disease Flashcards
What are antiseptics?
Antiseptics kill microorganisms in the environment.
What are antibiotics?
Antibiotics kill bacteria (not viruses) in the body.
What are antibodies?
Antibodies are made by white blood cells to destroy pathogens (both bacteria and viruses).
What are antigens?
Antigens are unique proteins on a cell’s surface. Due to the proteins on invaders cells being different to the ones in the human body, the immune system can easily identify when they need to make white blood cells.
When did antibiotics first become widely available?
In the 1940s.
How do antibiotics work?
Antibiotics, like penicillin, work by killing the bacteria that cause disease whilst inside your body.
What do antibiotics cure?
Bacterial diseases.
Who discovered penicillin?
What was it from?
Alexander Fleming.
Penicillium mould.
What were drugs originally extracted from?
Drugs were originally extracted from plants.
What does efficacy mean?
If a drug appears to be doing its job.
What are new drugs extensively tested for?
- Efficacy
- toxicity
- dosage.
Where does preclinical testing take place?
What happens during this?
This always takes place in a laboratory.
Cells, tissues and live animals are tested.
What do clinical trials use?
Healthy volunteers and patients.
