Fighting Disease - Drugs Flashcards
1
Q
What are Painkillers?
A
The painkillers (e.g. aspirin) are drugs that relieve pain. However, they don’t actually tackle the cause of the disease or kill pathogens, they just help to reduce the symptoms.
2
Q
What are Antibiotics?
A
The antibiotics (e.g. penicillin) work differently - they actually kill (or prevent growth of) the bacteria causing the problem without killing your own body cells. Different antibiotics kill different types of bacteria, so it’s important to be treated with the right one.
3
Q
Why does Antibiotics don’t destroy the Viruses?
A
Antibiotics don’t destroy the viruses because viruses reproduce using your body cells which makes it very difficult to develop drugs that destroy just the virus without killing the body’s cells.
