Biology Flashcards
What are the 4 types of pathogen?
- Bacteria
- Viruses
- Fungi
- Protozoa
Where is glycogen mostly stored?
- The liver
- The muscles
What is pepsin and where is it found?
Protease in the stomach.
What enzyme is used to break down starch?
Amylase
Where is amylase produced?
1) Salivary glands
2) Pancreas
3) Small intestine
What is starch broken down into by amylase?
Sugars, such as maltose.
Where is protease produced?
1) Stomach
2) Pancreas
3) Small intestine
Where is lipase produced?
1) Pancreas
2) Small intestine
What is a blood clot?
A mesh of protein fibres (fibrin fibres) that plugs a damaged area and stops bleeding.
What are the risks of excessive blood clotting?
1) Stroke
2) Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
What drugs can be taken to reduce the risk of excessive blood clotting?
- Warfarin
- Heparin
- Aspirin
What is the name for a condition where the blood does not clot easily?
Haemophilia
What causes haemophilia?
The body can’t produce a certain clotting factor.
What does adrenaline do?
It increases the heart rate, so that muscles get sufficient oxygen supplied to them.
What is a pacemaker and how does it work?
- A group of cells that tells the heart how fast to beat.
* Cells produce a small electrical current that spreads to surrounding cells, causing them to contract.
What are the two pacemaker groups in the heart?
1) SAN - Sino-atrial node
2) AVN - Atrio-ventricular node
What does the sino-atrial node (SAN) do?
Stimulates the atria to contract.
What does the atrio-ventricular node (AVN) do?
Stimulates the ventricles to contract.
Describe in detail how the heart’s pacemakers work.
1) The sino-atrial node (SAN) produces an electric current that spreads to the atria.
2) This current stimulates the atrio-ventricular node (AVN) to produce a current that causes the ventricles to contract.
3) This means that the atria always contract before the ventricles.
What do ECGs record?
The electrical activity of the heart.
What can ECGs be used to show?
- Heart attacks
- Irregular heartbeats
- General health of the heart
Describe the shape of a normal ECG heartbeat.
- Flat
- Small curved bump upwards (atria contraction)
- Flat
- Small, sharp downwards peak followed by a large, sharp upwards peak, then tiny sharp downwards peak (ventricle contraction)
- Flat
- Small curves bump again upwards (ventricle relaxation)
- Flat
(See diagram)
Practice drawing out the shape of a normal ECG.
See diagram.
Describe the ECG for ventricular fibrillation.
Small, sharp squiggly fluctuations (as ventricles contract erratically).
What is ventricular fibrillation?
When the heart quivers instead of pumping, due to disorganised electrical activity.
Describe the shape of the ECG for a heart attack.
- Flat
- Small upwards bump
- Flat
- Small, sharp downwards peak followed by a large, sharp upwards peak -> On the way down this is bulging outwards rather than a sharp downwards line
- Flat
What is an echocardiogram?
An ultrasound scan of the heart.
What can an echocardiogram be used to show?
- An enlarged heart
- Decreased pumping ability
- Valve function (tears, infection and scarring)
What could an enlarged heart indicate?
Heart failure
What could decreased pumping ability of the heart indicate?
Cardiomyopathy
What is a neurone?
A nerve cell.