Health and Disease Lecture Flashcards

Flashcards covering definitions of health and disease, types of pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites), the three lines of immune defense, and the function of vaccines.

Health

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

Disease

Anything that causes your body to stop working properly.

Infection

The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites that are not normally present within the body.

Germ theory

The theory that many diseases are caused by the presence of specific microorganisms.

Pathogens

Microorganisms that cause disease; they can fall into 4 categories: Bacteria, Virus, Animal parasite, and fungus.

Bacteria

Microscopic, unicellular organisms; some are pathogenic and cause infectious diseases while others live in the intestines of herbivores to help with digestion.

Antibiotics

Medications that are able to control bacterial infections.

Spirilla

Bacteria that are classified by their spiral shape.

Bacilli

Bacteria that are classified by their rod-shaped structure.

Cocci

Bacteria that are classified by their round shape.

Viruses

Non-living pathogens that are smaller than cells and not made of cells; they must invade a host cell to reproduce, causing the infected cell to die and burst.

Fungi

Organisms that grow in warm moist conditions and gain food from other organic material; they cause diseases such as thrush, tinea, ringworm, and athlete's foot.

Saprophytes

Fungi that gain their food from dead organic material.

Parasites (Fungal)

Fungi that gain their food from living organic material.

Animal parasites

Organisms that feed on their host for food and shelter, found internally or externally; examples include malaria, amoebic dysentery, and lice.

Non-infectious Diseases

Diseases not due to disease-causing organisms, including genetic diseases like Down syndrome and haemophilia, or lifestyle/environmental diseases like skin cancer.

Mucous membranes

Thin skin-like linings of entry points (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, genitals) that use slimy mucus to capture and kill some bacteria.

First line of defence

Barriers including skin, mucous membranes, tears, ear wax, and acidic urine that prevent pathogens from entering the body.

Second line of defence

A general immune response in the blood involving blood clotting, inflammation, fever, and phagocytosis.

Inflammation

A second line of defence response that increases the number of blood cells reaching an infected area.

Fever

A response where the body heats up to destroy pathogens that cannot survive at high temperatures.

Phagocytosis

The process where a phagocyte recognizes, ingests by 'flowing' around, and digests bacteria using enzymes.

Third line of defence

A specific immune response involving B cells that create antibodies and T cells that attack the cells.

Antibodies

Specific proteins created by B cells that clump pathogen cells together to defeat them.

Antigen

A specific part of a pathogen that the body uses to learn how to build a corresponding antibody.

Vaccine

A tiny weakened non-dangerous fragment of an organism that includes parts of the antigen, allowing the body to learn to build specific antibodies.