Search for Better Health Flashcards
What is health?
A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
The main factors controlling the proper functioning of the body are
genes, mitosis, cell differentiation and specialisation.
Define disease
Any condition that adversely affects the normal functioning of any part of a living thing. Most definitions of disease are quite broad and imprecise.
What is mitosis?
The process of cell division by which identical body cells are produced to allow for growth, repair of damaged tissue, replacement of worn out cells and genetic stability.
What happens in cell differentiation?
Cells mature and take on different structural features, so that they become structurally suited to perform a specific function in the body.
What happens in cell specialisation?
Specific genes are ‘switched on’ in order to perform a particular function in the body.
What are the two types of genes that control mitosis?
The proto-oncogenes and the tumour suppressor genes.
What do proto-oncogenes do?
The proto-oncogenes stimulate cell growth and cell division.
What do tumour suppressor genes do?
They slow down or stop cell growth and cell division.
What happens if the proto-oncogenes or the tumour suppressor genes are damaged or mutated?
Cancers can form due to the uncontrolled cell replication.
How is mitosis affected by cancer?
Cancer increases the process of mitosis because cancer cells are uncontrollably replicating and growing.
Why do multicellular organisms need specialised cells?
Multicellular organisms need specialised cells to carry out particular functions to allow the whole body to survive. Specialised cells include red blood cells, white blood cells, neurons, muscle cells, bone and epithelium.
