Chapter B6- Preventing and treating disease

Question 1

vaccine

Answer 1

dead or inactive pathogenic material used in vaccination to develop immunity to a disease in a healthy person

Question 2

preclinical testing

Answer 2

is carried out on a potential new medicine in a laboratory using cells, tissue and live animals

Question 3

clinical trails

Answer 3

test potential new drugs on healthy and patient volunteers

Question 4

placebo

Answer 4

a medicine that does not contain the active drug being tested, used in clinical trials of a new medicine

Question 5

natural active immunity stages (A-G)

Answer 5

A. antibody number increases
B. pathogens destroyed
C. antibody numbers fall, not to ZERO
D. memory cells remain
E. antibodies made quickly 
F. greater number made
G. antibody levels remain high for longer

Question 6

how vaccine is made + works

Answer 6

• pathogen destroyed or inactive
• vaccine prepared
• injected
• correct antibodies made
• memory cells remain to produce correct antibodies rapidly on subsequent infections and quickly destroy the pathogen

Question 7

painkillers, +eg

Answer 7

• do not kill pathogens
• can relieve symptoms of disease
• e.g. paracetamol, Calpol, nurofen, ibuprofen, morphine, aspirin, codeine

Question 8

antibiotics

Answer 8

• disinfectants and antiseptics can’t be used inside the body
• kill bacteria
• do not kill viruses
• do not harm human cells
• some kill a wide range of bacteria
• others are very specific
• important you chose the right one
• important to complete course
• frequently given to intensively-farmed animals

Question 9

a good medicine is :

Answer 9

• effective
• safe
• stable
• successfully taken into and removed from your body

Question 10

effective meaning

Answer 10

must prevent or cure disease, at least make you feel better

Question 11

stable meaning

Answer 11

must be able to use medicine under normal conditions and store it for some time

Question 12

safe meaning

Answer 12

drug must not be too toxic or have acceptable side effects

Question 13

successfully taken into and removed from your body meaning

Answer 13

reach its target and be cleared from your system once the work is done

Question 14

how long does it take to bring a new medicine into a doctors surgery?

Answer 14

12 years

Question 15

how much might it cost to get a medicine to this stage?

Answer 15

£1700 million

Question 16

development of drugs order

Answer 16

• disease is targeted and treatments are developed
• search for possible drugs including computer design of molecules and screening of many chemicals
• possible drugs made in lab

Question 17

why do we carry out preclinical testing?

Answer 17

predict how drugs behave in humans

Question 18

clinical trials order

Answer 18

• clinical testing on healthy human volunteers
• testing on small number of patients
• trials with more patients

Question 19

what does the drug get after testing?

Answer 19

a license

Question 20

randomised

Answer 20

not a specific type of person

Question 21

double-blind

Answer 21

group of patients with target disease, some are given placebo and some are given new medicine. randomly allocated. neither doctor now patient know.

Question 22

controlled

Answer 22

patients health monitored carefully

Question 23

peer review

Answer 23

other scientists working in the same area can check results over, to prevent false claims

Question 24

advantages of monoclonal antibodies:

Answer 24

• only bind to specific diseased/damaged cells
• healthy cells not affected
• specificity means they could be used to treat on wide range of conditions

Question 25

disadvantages of monoclonal antibodies:

Answer 25

• expensive
• initially created more side effects than expected (reduced now)
• difficult procedure

Question 26

formation of monoclonal antibodies in rats

Answer 26

mouse is injected with
antigen / protein
• immune system is
stimulated
• produces lymphocytes
• lymphocyte is combined
with a tumour cell
• to form a hybridoma cell
• hybridoma cell divides
• forms a clone of
hybridoma cells
• cells produce a specific
antibody
• many cells produce a lot
of the antibody
• antibody is purified

Question 27

why is it more difficult to develop medicines against viruses than to develop antibiotics

Answer 27

• viral pathogens can only reproduce inside the body cells
• difficult to find drugs that can kill pathogens without killing body cells
• bacteria exists outside body cells and different from human cells
• antibiotics can kill bacteria cells without killing body cells

Question 28

advantages of looking for new antibiotic compounds in living organisms

Answer 28

• anecdotal evidence of medicinal evidence can save us from having to try multiple different types of plants
• when used for a long and widespread time, suggests that there are fewer side effects

Question 29

disadvantages of looking for new antibiotic compounds in living organisms

Answer 29

• difficult to source living material
• low concentrations
• difficult to isolate exact chemical

Question 30

monoclonal antibodies uses

Answer 30

• pregnancy tests
• diagnosis of disease
• measuring and monitoring
• research
• treating disease

Question 31

use of monoclonal antibodies to treat disease

Answer 31

• trigger immune system to recognise, attack and destroy cancer cells
• block receptors on surface of cancer cells, to stop growing and dividing
• carry toxic drugs or radioactive substances for radiation therapy, or chemicals that stop cells growing and dividing to attack the cancer cells directly, without harming other cells