B3.1 disease

• Health


  A state of both physical and mental well-being
• Factors for good health


  • A well-balanced diet
  • Getting enough exercise
  • Getting enough sleep
  • Having access to medical care
  • Preventive medicines like vaccines
• Factors for poor health


  • Lack of the factors for good health
  • Too much stress
• Disease


  A large group of conditions that can cause ill health
• Unhealthy diet


  Can lead to diabetes
• Chicken pox or asthma


  Unrelated to lifestyle
• Types of diseases

  • Communicable diseases (infectious diseases)
  • Non-communicable diseases
• Communicable diseases

  • Common cold
  • Malaria
  • Meningitis
• Non-communicable diseases generally start more slowly and last a long time, with some never going away
• Problems with immune system


  Increased susceptibility to communicable diseases
• Some viruses

  Can cause cancers (e.g. HPV and cervical cancer)
• Immune system overreacting

  Can cause skin rashes and asthma
• Severe physical health problems

  Can have a big impact on mental health
• Physical disease impacting everyday activities


  Can cause problems like depression or chronic anxiety
• Microorganisms


  A group of tiny organisms including bacteria, viruses, protists and fungi
• Pathogens


  Microorganisms that can cause disease
• Communicable/infectious diseases


  Diseases that can spread from person to person and affect both animals and plants
• How pathogens spread from person to person

  1. Through the air (e.g. coughing, sneezing)

  2. Through contaminated food and water

  3. Through direct contact
• Pathogens spread through the air


  • Influenza virus
  • Measles virus
• Pathogens spread through contaminated food and water

  • Cholera (bacterial disease spread by contaminated water)
  • Salmonella (bacteria spread by contaminated food, particularly chicken)
• Pathogens spread through direct contact


  • Athlete's foot (fungal infection spread by walking barefoot on contaminated surfaces)
• Ways to reduce the spread of pathogens

  1. Being hygienic (e.g. washing hands, cleaning cooking items)

  2. Killing vectors (e.g. using insecticides to kill mosquitoes)

  3. Vaccinating people

  4. Isolating/quarantining infected people
• The best way to prevent a pathogen from spreading is to vaccinate everybody
• Quarantine is generally only used for really serious diseases that could harm others if spread