Part 1 Flashcards
(30 cards)
What is a disease?
Any condition which impairs the normal functioning of an organism
What are the two types of diseases?
Infectious or non-infectious
What is the study of disease known as?
Pathology
What are the 4 main types of disease?
Genetic, infectious, deficiency and physiological
What is epidemiology?
The study of the causes and effects of health and disease in a population
What is a pathogen?
An organism or agent which causes disease
What is an infectious disease caused by and how is it passed on?
A pathogenic agent, and is passed from one organism to another by direct or indirect contact
What is a non-infectious disease?
A disease not caused by a pathogen, and includes genetic disorders, or social and mental diseases
What are the main preventative measure against infectious disease?
Antibiotics, vaccines and good hygiene
What are the main preventative measures against non-infectious diseases
A healthy diet and good physical activity
What is an example of a curable infectious disease and what can it be cured by?
Cellulitis, which an be cured using antibiotics or penicillin
Which disease is the biggest killer in Australia?
Coronary heart disease
Which diseases are the biggest killers in underdeveloped countries?
HIV
Why do the diseases which people die from differ from Australia to underdeveloped countries?
The quality of living conditions and healthcare systems, people in underdeveloped nations do not live to older ages where heart and lung diseases come into play, instead dying to other diseases at a younger age because the risk of infection is highly increased
What are the four main types of pathogens?
Bacteria, fungi, virus and parasite
How do we interact with pathogens in daily life?
We come into contact with pathogens every day, most of the time our body’s immune system destroys them before they can cause harm
What are the three factors which determine whether an exposure to a pathogen results in infection?
Dose, virulence and host resistance
What is dose?
The amount of organisms that enter your body
What is virulence?
The strength of the organism
What is host resistance?
The ability of your immune system to fight infection
What are bacteria and how many species are there?
Microscopic, unicellular organisms, there are thousands of species
What types of bacteria do we contain and which bacteria causes disease?
We contain good and bad bacteria and pathogenic bacteria can cause disease
What can bacteria be treated by?
Antibiotics
What are examples of diseases caused by bacteria?
Whooping cough, salmonella, tetanus and tuberculosis
