Cause of disease overview

Question 1

What is aetiology?

Answer 1

= causes of disease - the initial events that causes a disease

Can have single cause or be the product of multiple factors

Question 2

What is idopathic?

Answer 2

= conditions with no known cause

Question 3

What are some examples of intrinsic and extrinisic causes of disease?

Answer 3

Genetic = intrinsic

• Cancer
• Developmental diseases
• Inherited anaemia
• Inherited metabolic diseases

Environment = extrinsic

• Nutrition and diet - nutritional anaemias
• Developmental disorders
• Radiation/poisoning/lifestyle - cancer

Question 4

What is a example of a cause of disease being a chain of events?

Answer 4

Eg. Allergies - sensitive immune system (intrinsic) or proceeding allergen (extrinsic)

Question 5

What is the evidence for age being a cause of disease?

Answer 5

Age = time exposed to something that accumulate

• In cancer - age is a factor which allows the cancer risk to increase

Age can be a intrinsic cause when it describes the biological process of ageing

Question 6

What are the phases of the cell cycle?

Answer 6

G1 - cell prepares to divide

S - cell copies all the DNA

G2 - cell grows, makes proteins and organelles

M - mitotic phase - cell separates its DNA into two sets and divides its cytoplasm forming 2 new cells

Interphase (G1, S, G2) and mitotic phase

Question 7

What are mitogens?

Answer 7

= small bioactive protein or peptide that induces a cell to begin a cell division or enhances the rate of mitosis

Question 8

What factors control the cell cycle?

Answer 8

• Cyclins - positive regulators
• Cdks - positive regulators
• Retinoblastoma proteins - group of tumour-suppressor proteins that are negative regulators

There are checkpoints near the end of G1 and at the G2/M transition to check the progression of the cell

Question 9

What mechanisms underlie cell death?

Answer 9

1. Necrosis
2. Apoptosis - programmed cell death