Biology: Chapter 3- Health: The Ultimate Treasure

Health

A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease.

Dinacharya, Ritucharya, Prakriti

Daily and Seasonal routine, body constitution.

Air Quality Index (AQI)

Allows us to know how clean the air is and whether or not it is safe to breathe.

Symptoms

Can be felt, like pain, dizziness, and tiredness.

Signs

Can be seen or measured, like fever, rash, high blood pressure, and swelling.

Disease

A condition that affects the normal working of the body or mind.

Pathogens

Disease-causing organisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, worms or protozoa.

Non-communicable diseases

Diseases that cannot be transmitted from one person to another, and are caused by lifestyle, diet, or environment. Eg: Diabetes, Cancer, Asthma.

Communicable diseases

Diseases that can be transmitted from one person to another and are caused by pathogens. Eg: Typhoid, Dengue, COVID-19.

Vectors

Insects, such as mosquitoes and fireflies, that spread communicable diseases.

Parasites

Organisms that live in or on another living being (host) and depend on them for survival with no benefit for the host.

Deficiency diseases

Diseases caused by a lack of specific nutrients in the diet. Eg: Scurvy, Goitre, Anaemia, Rickets.

Chronic Diseases

Diseases that last for a long time, i.e. more than 3 months.

Dr. Kamal Ranadive (1917-2001)

Studied hormones and viruses linked to cancer, and showed the effect of tobacco, diet, and pollution on the increase of cancer risk.

Immunity

The natural ability of our body to fight diseases.

Acquired immunity

Protection developed after exposure to a pathogen or vaccine.

Edward Jenner

Developed the smallpox vaccine (from cowpox sap) after discovering that people who had cowpox did not contract the disease in the late 1700s.

Dr. Maharaj Kishan Bhan

Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology who played a key role in developing the Rotavirus Vaccine, protecting children from diarrhoea.

Penicillin

The first antibiotic discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928, who noticed that a discarded petri on which fungi was growing prevented bacteria from growing there.

Antibiotic resistance

A phenomenon where bacteria that were earlier killed by a given antibiotic are found to survive and multiply despite treatment with that antibiotic.