Intro

Question 1

What is a disease?

Answer 1

-Any state in which the health of the organism is impaired -A consequence of a failure of homeostasis

Question 2

What is homeostasis?

Answer 2

-“Steady State” -Maintaining an appropriate steady state of the internal environment despite changes in the external -Usually desirable -Allows constant function of cells, organelles, proteins

Question 3

Pathogenesis

Answer 3

The pathological mechanism which results in clinically evident disease (eg interaction between Mycobacterium tubercuolsis and hosts response produce caseating lesion of TB)

Question 4

Aetiology

Answer 4

-The cause of disease -eg Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the aetiological agent

Question 5

Predisposition

Answer 5

-a susceptibility to disease which, given right circumstances, will manifest as clinically evident disease. -eg inherited mutation/ environmental factors (eg poor housing/ infection control)

Question 6

Risk Factor

Answer 6

-A factor that is associated with an increased probability of developing a particular disease

Question 7

Causes of disease

Extrinsic Factors

Answer 7

• Physical agents
  
  • Trauma eg bone fracture
  • Radiation eg Cancer
  • Temp eg burns/frostbite
• Chemical agents
  
  • Toxic substances eg Tobacco lung damge
  • Inflammatory agents eg Asthma
• Biological agents
  
  • Bacterial eg various infections
  • Virus eg AIDs / Hepatitis
  • Fungi and Parasites eg athlete’s foot
• Nutritional
  
  • Various eg malnutrition

Question 8

Causes of disease

Intrinsic Factors

Answer 8

• Genetic eg sickle-cell disease, CF
• Metabolic eg diabetes, gallstones
• Cellular
  
  • Autoimmune eg rheumatoid arthritis
  • Degenerative and Aging eg Alzheimer’s
• Structural
  
  • Congenital eg spina bifida
  • Aquired eg atheroma, osteoarthritis