Health is a state of well-being physical, mental and social well-being. The health of a person depends on their surrounding environment. Without maintaining good health it is impossible to carry out normal day-to-day activities and function well enough in all aspects, i.e., physically, mentally, and socially.
Health-Health is a state of physical, mental, and social well-being.
Immune System
A immune system is the part of the body that gives protection against infectious microbes, There are certain specialized cells, for example, lymphocytes, macrophages, and so on. which kill microorganisms that enter our body and help in keeping their numbers in control. If our immune system is strong enough we are less likely to get infectious, The immune system helps in preventing the reoccurrence of disease after primary exposure, e.g. if we get smallpox once, there is no chance of suffering from it again.
Diseases
A disease is a discomfort the body experiences physically or mentally. A disease can be caused due to external or internal factors. The two types of disease are acute and chronic diseases.
- Acute diseases: these are short-term diseases like the common cold, flu, pneumonia, malaria, etc.
- Chronic diseases: these are long-term diseases like elephantiasis, asthma, tuberculosis, diabetes, cancer, etc.
Symptoms of diseases
When we get diseases. We can see some symptoms of illness. These symptoms and signs help in the identification and diagnosis of the disease. A symptom is felt by the affected person while signs can be detected by another person. A symptom is thus, subjective and a sign is objective. E.g. For malaria, we get a high fever, etc. The symptoms of dengue fever include fever, nausea, pain, rashes, and bleeding from the nose.
Causes of Disease
Diseases can be caused due to pathogens such as viruses or bacteria. Some diseases can also be due to internal factors such as genetic mutation.
- Infectious Diseases: Diseases caused by viruses and bacteria (microorganisms) and can spread to other individuals are called infectious diseases. E.g. common cold, smallpox, HIV, etc.
- Noninfectious Diseases: Diseases that can’t spread from one individual to another are called non-infectious diseases. Usually, these diseases are not caused by microorganisms. E.g. diabetes and high blood pressure.
- Pathogens: Pathogens ( microorganisms like virus bacteria) are external agents that cause diseases in other organisms. This pathogen includes harmful microbes or microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
- Vector: Vectors are those individuals who carry a pathogen from the host to the recipient. Mosquitoes, rats, and mice are some vectors that carry infectious diseases.
- Bacteria: Bacteria are microorganisms that are present in almost all environmental conditions. Not all bacteria are harmful. Some bacteria are also beneficial to human beings. Bacteria are beneficial for, digestion, extracting antibiotics from them, and nitrogen fixation. Probiotics are the bacteria are called ‘ helpful’ Or ‘ good’ bacteria, which present in our intestines, that keep our gut healthy.
- A few diseases caused by bacteria are cholera, typhoid, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and so on.
- Viruses: An virus is a microorganism that is dependably pathogenic in nature. They don’t have the molecular machinery to replicate without a host. they enter the host cell and replicate and in the process destroy the host cell. A few of the infections spread by the viruses are cold, flu, dengue fever AIDS, and so on.
- Fungi: Fungi are a group of living organisms that are eukaryotic in nature and saprophytic in nutrition. They could be either unicellular or multicellular organic entities. Numerous normal skin contaminations like ringworm, nail contamination, and so forth are Ex, fungal diseases.
- Parasites: A parasite is a microorganism that lives in another living organism, called the host, and is harmful to it. It depends on its host for survival – it must be in the host to live, develop and multiply
Means of the spread of diseases
Infectious diseases spread from an infected individual to a healthy individual throughthe air, water, food, vectors, and physical and sexual contact.
Direct transmission
this happens when a pathogen is directly transmitted from an infected person. if an open wound comes in contact with the blood of a Hepatitis B infected patient, the wounded person might be in contact with the disease-causing agent.
- Person to Person: When an individual transmits diseases through contact, some diseases are transmitted from a mother to his unborn child through the placenta. Some diseases are transmitted through sexual contact.
- Droplets Transmission: The droplets spread during sneezing, talking, and coughing by an infectious individual can spread diseases. The diseases can likewise spread by contacting the nose and mouth with the hands contaminated with infectious drops. The droplets are moment to such an extent that they travel just a brief distance before falling.
- Spread by the skin: There are a couple of infections like chickenpox, conjunctivitis, head lice, ringworm, and so on, which spread when the skin of a tainted individual interacts with the skin of the other individual.
Indirect transmission
This happens through vectors like mosquitoes, houseflies, dogs, etc
- Through air: Air-transmitted diseases are easier to catch thecloser we are to the infected person. This happens when an infected person coughs or sneezes, these droplets inhaled by another person also get infected. Example: Common cold, Tuberculosis, Pneumonia, etc.
- Through water: Disease can also be spread through water. When stool of an infectious mixed with drinking water.when this water is consumed by healthy people. They also get infected. Example: Cholera, Amoebic dysentery, etc
- Through vectors: Diseases that are spread by the vectors.vectors like Mosquitoes:- Malaria dengue etc. Flies :- typhoid,TB, Diarrhoea, etc.
Conceptual Questions
Question 1: What is health?
Answer:
Health is a state of physical, mental, and social well-being.
Question 2: What are the means of the spread of diseases?
Answer:
Air, water, vectors, physical contact, and sexual contact are the means of the spread of diseases.
Question 3: What are acute diseases?
Answer:
Acute diseases are short-term diseases like common cold, flu, pneumonia, malaria, etc.
Question 4: How do diseases spread through the air?
Answer:
Airborne diseases are bacteria or viruses that are most generally transmitted through little respiratory droplets. These drops are expelled when somebody with airborne diseases sneezes, coughs.