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IGCSE BIOLOGY > TOPIC 6: Human Health & Disease > Flashcards

TOPIC 6: Human Health & Disease Flashcards

(75 cards)

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1
Q

UNIT 10: What is a pathogen?

A

A microorganism that causes disease

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2
Q

What are transmissible diseases?

A

Diseases that can be passed from one person to another

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3
Q

What is direct contact transmission?

A

When a disease spreads through touching, coughing, sneezing, or sexual contact

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4
Q

What is droplet contact?

A

When germs spread through droplets from coughing or sneezing

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5
Q

What is indirect contact transmission?

A

When a disease spreads without direct human contact, like through water, food, or air

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6
Q

What is a vector?

A

An organism that carries a pathogen from one host to another (like a mosquito)

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7
Q

What are mechanical barriers in body defense?

A

Things that physically block pathogens like:

  • Nostril hairs (trap dust)
  • Skin with keratin (hard for pathogens to get through)
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8
Q

What are chemical barriers in body defense?

A

Substances that kill or trap pathogens, like:

  • Sticky mucus (traps germs in airways and gut)
  • Stomach acid (HCL) (kills germs in food)
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9
Q

What happens if pathogens get past these barriers?

A

White blood cells destroy them using:

  • Phagocytosis (eating the germs)
  • Antibodies (targeting and neutralizing them)
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10
Q

What is food hygiene?

A

Keeping food clean and safe from germs and contamination.

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11
Q

Give 2 examples of food hygiene practices.

A
  1. Don’t keep food at room temperature too long.
  2. Keep bacteria and viruses away from food.
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12
Q

Why should we keep animals and raw meat away from food?

A

To avoid spreading germs and food poisoning

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13
Q

What is personal hygiene?

A

Keeping your body clean to stay healthy and prevent illness

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14
Q

Give 3 examples of personal hygiene habits

A
  1. Washing skin with soap
  2. Washing hair with shampoo
  3. Brushing teeth (good oral hygiene)
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15
Q

At what temperature are bacterial spores killed within 15 minutes?

A

120°C (Pressure cooker temperature)

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16
Q

At what temperature is most growing bacteria killed?

A

Above 65°C

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17
Q

What temperature is boiling water?

A

100°C

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18
Q

Between which temperatures do most growing bacteria grow well?

A

10°C to 48°C

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19
Q

What is the average human body temperature?

A

37°C

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20
Q

What is considered room temperature?

A

20°C

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21
Q

What is the typical refrigerator temperature?

A

4°C

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22
Q

What is the temperature inside a freezer?

A

-12°C

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23
Q

At what temperature do most growing bacteria stop reproducing?

A

Below 1°C

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24
Q

What do different lymphocytes produce?

A

Different lymphocytes produce different antibodies

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25
What is an antibody?
A protein with a shape that matches a specific antigen
26
What is an antigen?
An antigen is a foreign substance that triggers an immune response
27
What happens when antibodies lock onto antigens?
They cause destruction of the pathogen or mark it for destruction by phagocytes
28
What do lymphocytes do when they recognize an antigen?
They clone themselves by mitosis to fight the antigen. (Note: This process may take time.)
29
What is vaccination?
Treatment with a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease
30
What is given in a vaccine?
A harmless pathogen that has antigens
31
What do the antigens in a vaccine do?
They trigger an immune response by lymphocytes, which produce antibodies
32
What is the role of memory cells in vaccination?
They provide long-term immunity
33
What is a vaccine made from?
A vaccine is a biological preparation made from weakened or killed microbes, their toxins, or surface proteins
34
Give me two points of the role of vaccination in controlling the spread of diseases
1. Reduces risk of infection 2. Reduces rate of transmission
35
What is active immunity?
When the body responds to an antigen and makes its own antibodies
36
What cells are involved in active immunity?
Lymphocytes are activated and form memory cells
37
Is active immunity long-lasting or short-term?
Long-lasting resistance
38
What is passive immunity?
When a person is given antibodies made by someone else
39
Does passive immunity create memory cells?
No, it does not create memory cells
40
Is passive immunity long-lasting?
No, it is short-term
41
What are memory cells?
They are a type of white blood cell
42
When do memory cells respond?
When they meet a microorganism for the second time
43
What do memory cells do?
They make the right antibody quickly and destroy the microorganism before you feel unwell
44
What does having memory cells mean for the body?
You are immune to that disease
45
Controlling disease by vaccination
- Small pox (virus) - Eradicated - Poliomyelitis (virus) - Still occuring and affects nervous system
46
What is an autoimmune disease?
It's when the immune system mistakes normal tissue for non-self and attacks it
47
What causes autoimmune diseases?
An abnormal immune response against the body’s own substances and tissues
48
What is autoimmunity?
The body’s immune system reacting against its own tissues
49
What is the role of the immune system?
It protects the body by fighting anything it thinks doesn’t belong, like germs.
50
Type 1 Diabetes
It is a disease where the immune system attacks cells in the pancreas that make insulin, so the body can’t control blood sugar properly.
51
UNIT 13: Excretion
Removal of waste product from metabolism, toxic materials and substances in excess of requirement
52
Excretory Products
Carbon dioxide Urea Salts Hormones Alcohol Drugs
53
Organs for excretion: Lungs
- Excrete carbon dioxide and water vapour - Waste product from aerobic respiration
54
Organs for excretion: Skin
- Excrete sweat - To maintain body temperature
55
Organs for excretion: Kidney
- Excrete urea in the form of urine - Urine = urea + water + dissolved mineral salts - Regulate blood pH - Reabsorbs glucose and water
56
Why is excretion important?
To excrete toxic substances such as: urea. It prevents the building up of toxic material in our body
57
What is Egestion?
It is the removal of undigested food (like fibre) from the digestive system
58
What is nitrogenous waste?
It is waste from breaking down proteins, mainly urea in humans, removed by the kidneys
59
What is absorption?
Absorption is when digested food nutrients are taken into the blood or lymph through the small intestine
60
What is assimilation?
Assimilation is when the body uses the absorbed nutrients to build new things or for energy, usually in the liver and cells
61
What is the role of the immune system?
To keep the body healthy by destroying what it sees as non-self
62
Deamination
The removal of the nitrogen containing part of amino acid to form urea
63
5 Functions of Liver
🧱 Makes bile – helps digest fats 🩸 Stores sugar (as glycogen) – for energy 🛡️ Removes toxins – cleans your blood 🍳 Makes proteins – for blood and body functions 💊 Processes medicines – helps break them down
64
Urine Formation ( FILTRATION )
👉 Blood enters the glomerulus (a tiny ball of capillaries). 👉 Water, salts, glucose, and urea are filtered out of the blood into a structure called Bowman's capsule. 👉 Big things like blood cells and proteins stay in the blood.
65
Urine Formation ( REABSORPTION )
👉 Useful things like water and glucose are taken back into the blood. 👉 Happens in the kidney tubules.
66
Urine Formation ( EXCRETION )
👉 What’s left (mainly urea, extra water, and salts) becomes urine. 👉 It flows to the bladder through the ureters.
67
UNIT 15: Drugs
Any substance taken into the body that modifies or affects chemical reactions in the body
68
Antibiotics
Mainly made from fungi Kills bacteria without affecting body tissue (does not work against virus)
69
Whats the first anitbiotic discovered?
Penicillin
70
Penicillin
Made by the fungus Pencillium
71
How does Penicillin kill bacteria?
-Prevent the production of peptidoglycan that form the cell wall: The cell continue to grow without dividing or developing new cell wall The wall gets weaker- ruptures (lysis)
72
How antibiotic kill bacteria?
Destroying the cell wall Prevent development of cell wall
73
MRSA
Methicillin- resistant staphylococcus aureus is very dangerous because it is resistant to most antibiotics
74
To stop the development of other strains of resistant bacteria. It is essential to...
- Always avoid the unnecessary use of antibiotics - Always ensure the treatment is complete - Use different type of antibiotics
75
Why antibiotics do not work against virus?
- Not Living - No cell walls

IGCSE BIOLOGY (6 decks)

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