Section 5 - Health, Diseases and the Development of Medicines

Question 1

Bacteria, viruses and fungi are examples of types of pathogens. Give one other example of a type of pathogen.

Answer 1

Protists

Question 2

What are pathogens?

Answer 2

organisms that cause communicable diseases.

Question 3

Give the definition of ‘health’

Answer 3

A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being.

Question 4

Explain how having one disease can affect the likelihood of a person getting another, different disease.

Answer 4

Having one disease can increase the likelihood of a person getting another disease. This is because their body may have become weakened by the first disease, so it’s less able to fight off other diseases.

Question 5

Which type of pathogen causes malaria?

Answer 5

protist

Question 6

Give one effect that tuberculosis has on the body of an infected person.

Answer 6

coughing and lung damage.

Question 7

What would an ash tree infected with Chalara ash dieback look like?

Answer 7

It would have lost leaves and have lesions on its bark.

Question 8

Give ways diseases can be spread.

Answer 8

Diseases can be spread through air, through eating contaminated food, through exchanging infected bodily fluids and by being carried by an animal vector.

Question 9

Why are people infected with tuberculosis advised not to go to work or school, even if they feel well enough to go?

Answer 9

Tuberculosis is spread through the air, so people with tuberculosis should avoid crowded public spaces in case they spread the disease by coughing near other people.

Question 10

Explain how you can reduce the spread of malaria.

Answer 10

Malaria is carried and spread by mosquitoes, so using mosquito nets and insect repellent can help reduce the spread of malaria by preventing mosquitoes from biting people, therefore preventing people from becoming infected.

Question 11

True or false? Chlamydia is caused by a bacterium.

Answer 11

True

Question 12

Which disease is eventually caused by HIV?

Answer 12

AIDS

Question 13

What cells in the body are killed by HIV?

Answer 13

white blood cells

Question 14

HIV can be spread by sexual contact. Give one other way that HIV can be spread.

Answer 14

The sharing of needles between drug users. This us because HIV spreads through the exchange of bodily fluids, and sharing needles can cause the exchange of blood.

Question 15

Describe a way of reducing the spread of Chlamydia.

Answer 15

Wearing a condom when having sex, screening individuals so they can be treated, avoiding sexual contact.

Question 16

What chemical that kills bacteria is found in tears?

Answer 16

iysozyme

Question 17

Which proteins on the surface of pathogens trigger an immune response?

Answer 17

antigens

Question 18

Describe the role of antibodies in the immune system’s response to a pathogen.

Answer 18

Antibodies bind to the pathogen so it can be found and destroyed by the white blood cells.

Question 19

how is the immune system able to attack only the invading pathogen, and not other cells within the body?

Answer 19

The antibodies that are produced in an immune response are specific to the invading pathogens. This means that they will only bind to the pathogen and not to other cells, so it is only the pathogen that is then destroyed by the white blood cells.

Question 20

What are memory lymphocytes?

Answer 20

A type of white blood cell produced in response to the antigens of pathogens. Memory lymphocytes stay in the body for a long time and produce antibodies against the specific pathogen.

Question 21

Why is the secondary immune response much faster than the response of the immune system when it first encounters a pathogen?

Answer 21

When a pathogen enters the body for the first time, the response is slow because there aren’t many white blood cells that can make the correct antibody. The secondary immune response is faster because there are already a lot of memory lymphocytes in the body that can produce the antibody.

Question 22

Give one reason why a drug is tested on healthy volunteers during clinical testing.

Answer 22

To make sure the drug doesn’t have any harmful side effects when the body is working normally.

Question 23

what can scientists learn from giving a drug to live animals during preclinical testing?

Answer 23

They can learn whether the drug works, how toxic it is and the best dosage to use.

Question 24

Explain why smoking increases the likelihood of someone having a heart attack

Answer 24

Nicotine in cigarette smoke increases heart rate, which increases blood pressure. High blood pressure damages artery walls, which contributes to the build up of fatty deposits in the arteries. These deposits restrict blood flow and increase the risk of a heart attack. Smoking also increases the risk of blood clots forming in arteries, which can restrict or block blood flow, leading to a heart attack.

Question 25

What equation is used to calculate someone’s BMI?

Answer 25

mass/height^2

Question 26

What is the significance of having a higher waist-to-hip ratio?

Answer 26

The higher someone’s waist-to-hip ratio is, the more wight they’re likely to be carrying around their middle and the greater the risk of them developing obesity-related health problems

Question 27

What are antihypertensives?

Answer 27

drugs that reduce blood pressure

Question 28

Why does a patient need to take drugs after being given a donor heart?

Answer 28

To stop the body’s immune system rejecting the donor heart

Question 29

What is a stent? How do stents reduce the risks of heart attacks?

Answer 29

A stent is a tube that is inserted inside an artery. Stents keep arteries open, making sure blood can pass through to the heart muscles, lowering the risk of a heart attack.

Question 30

Give one benefit and one risk of taking anticoagulants.

Answer 30

anticoagulants can reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke by making blood clots less likely to form. However, they can cause excessive bleeding if the person is hurt in an accident.

Question 31

When a person has cardiovascular disease, describe the lifestyle changes they could make to reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

Answer 31

The risk of having a heart attack or stroke would be reduced if they eat a healthy, balanced diet which is low in saturated fat, exercises regularly, loses weight and does not smoke.

Question 32

How might statins help to reduce cardiovascular disease?

Answer 32

Statins reduce cholesterol in the bloodstream, slowing down the rate at which fatty deposits form and therefore reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.