2. What is a DISEASE?
Disease itself says dis+ease.
But we use the word disease in a more specific way
Disease can be defined as,
Any physical or functional change from the normal state that
causes discomfort, or disability, or impairs the health of a living
organism is called a Disease.
3.
4. Types of Diseases
Acute Diseases
These diseases last for only a
short period of time. However,
they spread rapidly in the
body showing intense
symptoms.
They can be mild, severe or
fatal.
Examples: Cold, Influenza etc.
Chronic
Diseases These diseases last for a long
period or even lifetime.
They can also be mild, severe
or fatal
They do not spread rapidly;
instead, they develop slowly
over a period of time.
Examples: Diabetes, HIV,
Asthma.
5. Causes of Diseases
Immediate Contributory
These are the primary causes of a
disease and can be identified after
first check up.
These causes contribute to the
occurrence of a disease.
Infectious Non -Infectious
These are caused
by external
agents like
viruses, bacteria
and other
microorganisms.
e.g. Diarrhoea ,
Cholera.
These are
caused by
internal agents
like genital
abnormalities,
excessive weight
etc.
e.g. High blood
pressure, Cancer
Unhealthy
Conditions
Improper
public
facilities
Poverty
Consumption
of
contaminated
food or water
Lack of
proper public
facilities such
as clean
drinking
water and
food
Lack of
nourishment
can also lead
to occurrence
of diseases in a
person
6. ORGAN SPECIFIC AND TISSUE
SPECIFIC MANIFESTATIONS
Compared to any type of pathogenic microbe, our body is
quite large. Thus, there are many possible regions, tissues
or organs, where a pathogenic mirobe can go and stay.
Different species of disease causing microbes have evolved
to move and reach to varios parts of the body. In part, this
selection is connected to their point of entry into the body.
7. Organ specific manifestations
When a microbe infects the specific organ of an
individual in a particular type of disease, it is termed
as organ specific manifestations.
Tissue specific manifestations
When a microbe infects the specific tissue of an
individual in a particular type of disease, it is
termed as tissue specific manifestations.
8. Some examples are:-
If disease causing microbes enter with air via the nose, they are likely
to go to the lungs, e.g., bacteria which cause tuberculosis of lungs.
If the pathogenic microorganisms enter via mouth they are likely to
stay in the lining of the gut or these can also go to the liver, e.g., the
viruses that cause jaundice.
Virus that causes HIV infection, enters the body through sexual organs
during sexual contact and then tend to spread to lymph nodes
throughout the body.
Malaria causing microbes are transmitted through mosquito bite, and
move to the liver and then the red blood cells.
Virus that causes Japanese encephalitis enters the body through
mosquito bite. However. It will go to reside and infect the brain.
9. Infectious Agents: Viruses
Viruses : They are very tiny organisms and are visible only
with the help of an electron microscope. They cannot grow,
multiply or reproduce on their own. They need to infect a
host cell to get the required machinery to perform these
functions. The genetic component of a virus may be made
of DNA or RNA. RNA-containing viruses are called
retroviruses.
Examples of retroviruses include HIV, SARS virus (Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome-causing virus), polio virus,
influenza virus and hepatitis C virus.
10. Infectious Agents: Bacteria
Bacteria: Bacteria are unicellular prokaryotic organisms. They
reproduce very quickly. They are larger than viruses. Only some
bacteria cause diseases; others are useful in nature.
Examples of diseases caused by bacteria include whooping cough,
typhoid, cholera, anthrax, tuberculosis, diarrhea, diphtheria, tetanus,
syphilis, gonorrhea, dysentery, plague and acne.
Diseases are caused by less than 1% bacteria. Some bacteria that live in
our body are actually good for us. For
example, Lactobacillus acidophilus is a harmless bacterium that
resides in our intestines. It helps us digest food, destroys some disease-
causing organisms and provides nutrients to our body.
11. Infectious Agents: Protozoa
Protozoa: They are simple, eukaryotic,
unicellular
organisms. Amoeba, Trypanosoma and Leishman
iaare examples of protozoa. They often spend
part of their life cycle outside of humans or
other hosts. Most of them are found in water as
they require moisture for survival. Some live in
other sources like food and soil.
Examples of diseases caused by protozoa include
amoebiasis, kala azar, malaria and African
sleeping sickness.
12. Some Disease causing Organisms
Staphylococcus, the
bacterium causing
acne.
Trypanosoma,
a protozoan
causing
sleeping
sickness.
Leishmania, a
protozoan
causing kala
azar
13. Prevention is Better than Cure
Treatment measures can be difficult to deal with for the following
reasons.
Diseases damage the functions of the body, which then takes a long
time to become fully functional again.
Sometimes a prolonged treatment may be necessary. Consequently,
the affected individual has to remain bedridden for a long time.
Even while being treated, diseased persons may spread the pathogens
to others coming in contact with them.
14. Vaccination and Immunization
◇Certain diseases need specific methods of prevention, i.e., vaccination. You
must have seen on television or read in the newspapers about the Pulse Polio
day, when children in the age group of 0−5 years are given the polio
vaccine. What is a vaccine? What is meant by the term vaccination? And what
is the difference between vaccination and immunization?
◇Vaccination is defined as the protection of the body from communicable
diseases by the administration of some agents that mimic disease-causing
microbes. The agents can be suspension of killed or attenuated microbes, or
substances that mimic the disease-causing germs. These agents are known
as vaccines. They make the body produce antibodies. The antibodies remain in
the blood for a long duration. When the disease-causing germs enter the body a
second time, the antibodies destroy them.
◇Immunization is the process whereby an individual’s immune system
is fortified against an infectious agent. This immunity can be achieved through
artificial means such as vaccination.