Health and diseases

Name: Toni Thomas

Subject: Biology Unit 2
3/2/2016
 Table of Content

Title Page
Introduction ..1-3

Cardiovascular Diseases.4

Dengue Fever..5

HIV/aids.6-7

Diabetes Mellitus8-9

Cancer.10-11

Social and Economic implications of Diseases..12

 Introduction

Health can be defined as a person's physical, mental and social condition. Physical health refers
to the proper functioning of the body systems. Mental health refers to a state of emotional and
psychological well-being in which an individual is able to use his or her cognitive and emotional
capabilities, function in society and meet the ordinary demands of everyday life. Social health
involves the ability of an individual to form fulfilling interpersonal relationships with others. It
also involves the ability of the individual to adjust easily to various social situations and act
appropriately in a range of settings.

Disease is a disorder or malfunction of the mind or body, which damages good health. There
are nine main categories of disease but some diseases are more difficult to classify and fit into
more than one of them.

1. Physical disease

These diseases involve temporary or permanent damage to the body and include all the other
categories except mental disease where there is no sign of physical damage to the brain. An
example of a physical disease is multiple sclerosis.

2. Mental diseases

These diseases affect a person's mentality, but may be accompanied by physical

symptoms. Emotions, thoughts, memories and personal and social behaviour can be affected.
Some mental diseases are caused by degeneration of brain tissue. An example would
be Alzheimer's, a progressive deterioration in memory which is followed by a general decline in
all mental faculties (dementia). Other mental diseases appear to be accompanied by changes in
the blood flow to the brain, for example, Schizophrenia.

3. Social diseases

This is a very wide category that can include almost all infectious diseases and multifactorial
diseases, which are influenced by people's living conditions and their personal behaviour. For
example, deficiency diseases may be the result of lack of choice of food, due to shortage of
money.

4. Infectious disease

Infectious diseases are caused by pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, protoctists,
worms and insects, which can be transmitted from person to person. This may be through normal
social contact, for example, chicken pox, or through food and water, sexual contact or an animal
bite. Carriers are people who can transmit the pathogen but do not have the disease symptoms.
 5. Non-infectious diseases

These are all diseases which are not caused by pathogens and cannot be passed on by physical
contact. An example is sickle cell anaemia.

6. Degenerative diseases

These diseases are characterised by a gradual loss of function in one or more organs or tissues. In
old age, this is often the result of the failure of the bodies repair mechanisms, for example, loss
of mobility due to worn joints. Degenerative diseases, however, can occur in youth or middle
age. They may be the result of poor nutrition in childhood or due to the immune system attacking
the bodys own cells. There are three main categories:

Diseases of skeletal, muscular and nervous tissues, for example, osteoarthritis.

Cardiovascular diseases of the circulatory system, for example, coronary heart disease.

Cancers.

7. Inherited diseases

These diseases are caused by genes and can therefore be passed from parent to child. They are
also sometimes called genetic diseases or disorders. An inherited disease is cystic fibrosis,
which is characterised by a build-up of sticky mucus. This makes breathing difficult and can act
as a breeding ground for bacteria, therefore physiotherapy is needed daily to remove the mucus.

8. Self-inflicted diseases

These diseases are caused by damage to a person's health by their own decisions and behaviour.
The choice to smoke or misusing drugs, sunbathing or eating a high fat diet would be included in
this category.

9. Deficiency diseases

These are nutritional diseases caused by an inadequate or unbalanced diet. That is, one or more
essential nutrient is missing or in short supply, for example, a shortage of Vitamin C
causes scurvy.
Morbidity and Mortality, Prevalence and Incidence

Morbidity refers to the unhealthy state of an individual whereas mortality refers to the state of
being mortal. Both terms can be applied at the individual level or across a population. For
instance, morbidity rate deals with the incidence of a disease across a population and/or
geographic location during a single year, for example, the incidence of seasonal flu. Details on
morbidity are given from doctors records and hospital records.

This data can be expressed as:

Incidence the number of new cases diagnosed and reported over a particular period of
time, usually a week, a month or a year. For example the incidence of dengue fever from
January 2009 to December 2010 in Jamaica. Incidence rates can be further categorised
according to various subsets of the population such as by gender, by racial origin, by age
group or by diagnostic category.
Prevalence the number of persons with a disease at a particular time or within a certain
time period for example a year. An example would be a change in prevalence of
HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean from 1980 to 2000.

Mortality rate on the other hand is the rate of death in a population. Morbidity and mortality rates
are often used to calculate the prevalence of a disease for example measles, and how likely the
disease is to be deadly, particularly for certain demographics.
 Chapter 1 cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular disease is a disease of the heart and blood vessels. These diseases are
multifactorial as they are influenced by many factors and there is no one underlying cause.
Cardiovascular diseases include stroke, hypertension, atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

Stroke a stroke occurs when an artery or arteries in the brain are blocked, or burst with leakage
into brain tissue. The brain tissue is starved of oxygen and nutrients and this may lead to death of
the tissue. A survivor of strokes will notice that their brain compensates for the functions that
they have lost.

Hypertension this is a condition where an individual has a blood pressure higher than the
normal. There may be no symptoms initially, but there is an increased risk of damage occurring
to the artery walls. This stimulates the development of atheroma and increases the chances of
developing angina or suffering a stroke or heart attack. High blood pressure is more likely to
occur in persons who smoke, are overweight, drink excessive alcohol, physically inactive, or eat
a diet rich I fat or salt. As such hypertension is considered a lifestyle disease due to these
practices. The normal blood pressure for a young adult is approximately 16.0 kPa systolic and
10.7 kPa diastolic. A diastolic pressure above 13.3 kPa increases the risk of cardiovascular
problems and a diastolic pressure above 17.3 kPa is considered very serious as this may lead to
death.

Atherosclerosis this is the development of plaque in the arteries. The process leading to
atherosclerosis initiates with the deposition of yellow fatty streaks containing a high amount of
cholesterol in the inner coat of the arteries. The deposits form beneath the inner lining known as
the endothelium. Fibres are later deposited in the cholesterol and they start to calcify and become
hard in a process called arteriosclerosis. The deposits are referred to atheromatous plaques. As a
plaque size increases, it projects into the lumen of the artery and begins to block it. This usually
occurs in the aorta and coronary arteries which supply the muscle of the heart. If the plaque
breaks through the smooth endothelium, its rough surface usually causes a blood clot to develop.
This is known as thrombus which may build up until it is large enough to block the artery. If this
clot breaks away, it may block another artery. This process is called embolus. The artery wall
becomes weaker with plaques and may stretch as a result. Once an artery is blocked, the tissue it
supplies will suffer oxygen starvation and will be severely damaged or die. If thrombosis occurs
in a coronary artery (coronary thrombosis), the heart is damaged and a heart attack is likely to
occur. If thrombosis occur in the brain (cerebral thrombosis) a stroke may occur.

Coronary Heart Disease the two coronary arteries branch from the base of the aorta, just above
the aortic valve. Disease of these arteries supplying the cardiac muscle is coronary heart disease.
If one of these artery is blocked, then there is a reduction in the supply of oxygen and nutrients to
some of the heart tissue, which may lead to the death if the tissue. The heart in turn has to work
harder to force blood through the coronary arteries and so blood pressure increases. Additionally,
the cardiac output does not increase sufficiently during times of high demand such as during
exercise.

Chapter 2 - Dengue fever

Dengue fever is an infectious disease that is common in the Caribbean and in other parts of the
world. It is considered an emerging disease as it is on the increase, both in terms of the number
of cares and its geographical spread.

The causative agents of dengue fever are a group of related viruses, the dengue fever viruses
known as DENV. Each virus consists of genetic material in the form of RNA and three structural
proteins capsid proteins form the core of the virus as they surround the RNA. The other two
proteins form a smooth surface that completely surrounds the lipid bilayer developed from host
cells.

The dengue virus is transmitted from infected to uninfected persons by Aedes aegypti female
mosquitoes, the vector. Female mosquitoes feed on blood to gain protein for their eggs. They
inject an anticoagulant in their saliva to prevent blood clotting while they remove blood. While
they feed on an infected person, the viruses are transferred within the blood. The viruses enter
the cells of the gut of the mosquito, replicate and after 8 10 days are transferred to the salivary
gland of the mosquito. The virus remains in the female mosquito to be transmitted to an
uninfected person when the mosquito wants to feed on blood.

After a short incubation period, which is usually 4 7 days, an infected person starts developing
symptoms:

Pain in muscles and joints

Painful flu-like symptoms such as high fever
Rash, nausea, severe headache, vomiting and swollen lymph glands

Prevention and Control

Prevention is seen as the best means of control for the dengue virus. There are specific measures
that can be undertaken to prevent dengue fever such as fumigation, draining bodies of stagnant
water and placing predators of mosquito larvae into water courses such as irrigation ditches.
People should avoid being bitten by mosquitoes by:

Wearing long clothing to avoid exposure of skin during the day when mosquitoes tend to
bite
Putting up screens on windows and doors to prevent the entry of mosquitoes
Keeping areas around houses clean and free of possible breeding sites
Using mosquito coils and repellents. Repellents with DEET as the active ingredient is
considered the most effective.
 Chapter 3 - Hiv/aids

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus

which weakens and then destroys the bodys immune system. HIV is a retrovirus. Its RNA is
used as a template to make DNA, which is the reverse of what usually occurs in cells. The virus
has surface proteins that interact with proteins on the surface of T-lymphocytes. The virus fuses
with the host cell and the RNA molecule enters the cell. The viral RNA is used as a template by
reverse transcriptase to assemble double-stranded DNA. This molecule enters the nucleus where
it is attached to the host DNA by the viral enzyme integrase. This incorporated viral DNA is now
a provirus. It has the tendency to remain inactive for several years. When the DNA is activated, it
is used as a template for host RNA polymerase to make complete RNA as the genetic material
for new viruses and mRNA to make viral proteins. Protease cuts the protein produced on
ribosomes into short sections which are then assembled around RNA to make new viruses.
These travel to the cell surface membrane and leave surrounded by host cell membrane and HIV
glycoproteins are incorporated.

The infection remains symptomless for a long time until the appearance of various opportunistic
diseases such as tuberculosis and a rare form of pneumonia. These diseases develop as the
number of T-lymphocytes has decreased because they have been destroyed by the HIV infection.

HIV is not transmitted by a vector but by direct contact between the blood of an infected and the
blood of an uninfected person. Methods of transmission are:

Blood in a needle or syringe that is used on an infected person and then on an infected
person. This can happen when a needle or syringe is not sterilised after use or when a
needle is shared between intravenous drug users.
Vaginal or anal sex between a person who is infected and someone who is not
Across the placenta during pregnancy
At birth when blood of an infected mother and the blood of her baby mix.
Blood from an infected person is used in transfusion or as a contaminant

There is a short incubation period of several weeks after which there are mild flu-like symptoms
that are often misdiagnosed.

Treatment, Prevention and control

AIDS is caused by a virus and while bacteria can be controlled by antibiotics, these are not
effective against viruses. Most treatments are therefore limited to relieving symptoms. Present
research on treatment and prevention is concerned about three areas

1. Developing a vaccine for the disease

2. Restoring or improving the damaged immune system of infected persons
 3. Developing drugs that will inhibit growth of the virus and also treat resulting infections
and symptoms.

HIV/AIDS is difficult to control as it is transmitted primarily during sexual intercourse. Health

authorities can distributed information about transmission but they are unable to control peoples
sexual behaviour. Methods that have been employed include:

Providing information about the risks of HIV/AIDS, the precautions that should be taken
to avoid infection and infected persons should take to avoid infecting others.
Issuing of free condoms
Voluntary testing centres
Testing the HIV status of pregnant women and providing antiretroviral drugs to infected
persons
Organisations that deal with the virus coordinate activities in prevention and control.
 Chapter 4 - Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is a non infectious, degenerative disease where insulin is not secreted or its
target cells do not respond or respond poorly. There are two types:

1. Type 1 not enough insulin is secreted by pancreatic -cells. This type normally
develops in the early stage of life.
2. Type 2 begins with insulin resistance, a condition in which cells fail to properly
respond to insulin. Type 2 diabetes is usually associated with a variety of risk factors
such as diet and obesity. This type develops later in life.

Type 2 diabetes is the more common form as is a serious health issue in the Caribbean.
Symptoms of the disease include:

Extreme fatigue; weight loss with loss of muscle tissue

Itches around genital areas
Feeling intense thirst and urinating a lot especially at nights
Blurred vision due to the drying of the lenses of the eyes
Recurring infections of candida causing the disease known as thrush whose growth is
promoted by glucose in the urine.

Risk factors that promotes Type 2 diabetes:

Genetics diabetes tends to run in the families, and persons who have family members
with Type 2 diabetes are at risk of developing it themselves.
High BMI high BMI is associated with obesity. Obesity increases the risk that target
cells do not respond to insulin. Fat tissue also interferes with the bodys ability to use
insulin.
Age diabetes is more common in older persons. This is because the pancreas does not
secrete insulin as efficiently and target cells become less responsive to insulin.
Diet a diet high in fat, with insufficient fibres and much refined sugars increases the
risks of diabetes
Prenatal malnutrition studies have found that persons whose mothers suffered famine
have a higher prevalence of diabetes than others. This may be as a result of the
predisposition of prenatal malnutrition to obesity.

The main aim of diabetes treatment is to control blood glucose levels and to prevent diabetes
complications. These three areas are the main focus:
 Nutrition be aware of the foods eaten, when they are eaten and the quantity in which
they are eaten. Following a meal plan can also aid in weight loss and lower the risk of
developing complications.
Physical Activity his is an important part of controlling diabetes and preventing
complications such as heart disease and high blood pressure.
Medication oral medication may be given by a doctor to help control blood glucose
levels for example insulin.
 Chapter 5 - cancer

Cancer is a group of diseases that affect different parts of the body. Each one is as a result of a
single cell growing uncontrollably to form a tumour. Cancers are caused by mutations in genes
that control cell growth and division. Not all tumours are cancers; they are either malignant or
benign. Cancers are malignant tumours as the cells may spread from their source and invade
adjacent tissues. They may travel through lymphatic vessels or the blood streams to remote areas
in the body. This spreading through the body is termed metastasis and the tumours formed I
other areas of the body are secondary cancers.

Carcinogens are environmental factors that cause damage to DNA. Further factors are needed to
promote the proliferation of these damaged cells by mitosis. Tobacco smoke contains both
groups of substances and so is strong cause of cancer.

Environmental Hazards ionising radiation, certain chemical such as dioxins, asbestos

and benzpyrene, ultraviolet light in sunlight, x-rays are carcinogenic.
Food Additives these are tested for safety by regulatory organisations to ensure that any
potential carcinogens no longer have approval for use in processed foods. Studies have
shown that nitrosamines and nitrites in red and processed meats may be associated with
gastric cancer. These are substances added as preservatives to prevent formation of
toxins.
Viruses infection with several viruses are linked to the development of cancer. Human
papilloma viruses (HPVs) are the main cause of cervical cancer. Infection with Epstein-
Barr virus and T-cell leukaemia virus increases the risk of blood cancers. HIV positive
persons are at a greater risk of blood cancers.
Genetic factors certain types of cancer occur most often in families than in the rest of
the population. Mutations ain ether BRCA1 and BRCA 2 genes are linked to the minority
of breast cancer cases. The mutant alleles are inherited dominantly.

Awareness should be made of the symptoms of cancer as early diagnosis and treatment often
means that tumours can be removed before they spread and damage other vulnerable tissues.
Symptoms of four of these cancers are:

Breast cancer: a painless lump in either of the breasts of both men and women.
Cervical cancer: abnormal vaginal bleeding for instance between normal periods, a
vaginal discharge with unpleasant smell, discomfort or pain during sexual intercourse.
Lung cancer: persistent cough, coughing up blood, chest and/or shoulder pains.
Testicular cancer: unusual painless lumps in the testes.

Screening programmes for persons at risk of cancers include:

 Mammography involves taking x-rays of the breast and checking the images for signs
of tumour.
Cervical Screening very effective at detecting early stages of cancer. Cervical smears
are examined microscopically for signs of cancerous cells. The cancer is destroyed by the
laser treatment.
Chapter 6 - Social and economic implications of
diseases

HIV/AIDS

Many people who live with AIDS or HIV also have to live with the stigma of how other people
may treat them. This may stem from certain individuals not being completely educated on the
basics of the disease or the virus. Many people avoid people known to be infected with the illness
out of fear that they may contact the disease. HIV and AIDS cannot be transmitted through casual
contact.
Some people who disclose to their future or present employer that they are HIV positive or carry
the AIDS virus may be discriminated against. They may be told they will not be hired or they will
be let go for a reason that cannot be supported or backed up.
One important social effect of HIV and AIDS is relationships. When someone is carrying the
disease it can be difficult for them to start new relationships and, in some cases, maintain existing
ones. Having the disease means they cannot have intercourse with anyone else unless they wear
protection---but even then it is a grave risk of possibly passing the virus to someone else. Many
people also may sever their ties with someone who is sick because of the emotional strain it
causes on the relationship.

HIV and AIDS affects economic growth by reducing the availability of human capital. Without
proper prevention, nutrition, health care and medicine that is available in developing countries,
large numbers of people are falling victim to AIDS.
People living with HIV/AIDS will not only be unable to work, but will also require significant
medical care. The forecast is that this will probably cause a collapse of economies and societies in
countries with a significant AIDS population.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic has an impact on labour supply, through increased mortality and
morbidity. This is compounded by loss of skills in key sectors of the labour market.
The long period of illness associated with AIDS reduces labour productivity.
Cancer

Cancer and its treatment result in the loss of economic resources and opportunities for patients,
families, employers, and society overall. These losses include financial loss, morbidity, reduced
quality of life, and premature death.
Diabetes

Diabetes management requires strict adherence to a self-care regimen, including blood glucose
testing, medication, diet and exercise. This often challenges people with diabetes and those who
care for them, potentially affecting interpersonal relationships and indirectly affecting glucose
control.