Understanding Health, Disease, and Infection Prevention
Health, Disease, and Infection
What is Health?
Health refers to the state in which the body normally performs its functions.
What is Disease?
Disease occurs when an organ or system undergoes a change and ceases to properly fulfill its function, leading to a disturbance.
What is Infection?
Infection is the entry of a foreign body into another. Examples in the human body include bacteria in dental plaque, on the surface of the skin, and inside the colon.
Methods to Prevent Infections
- Disinfection: Aims to destroy pathogenic microorganisms and prevent their spread (e.g., hydrogen peroxide, bleach).
- Sterilization: Involves destroying not only pathogenic germs but also cysts or spores. Material that has been sterilized is called aseptic.
- Antisepsis: Involves applying chemical substances to reduce pathogenic microorganisms that have already penetrated the skin (e.g., iodine, Mercurochrome).
Vaccines
Vaccines are antigen preparations introduced into the body to stimulate antibody production. They protect people and animals for years or even a lifetime (e.g., polio, rubella).
Healing Infections
- Antibiotics: Substances that prevent the growth of some bacteria but do not act against viruses (e.g., Amoxicillin, a derivative of penicillin).
- Antisera: Purified serum from a person or animal, injected into an unvaccinated person to protect against a particular organism. However, this protection is not long-lasting (e.g., antisera for meningitis, snake bites).
- Interferon: When cells are infected by a virus, they produce a substance called interferon, which prevents the virus from spreading to nearby cells.
Three Stages of Infectious Disease
- Incubation Period: The time between the entry of the agent and the onset of symptoms.
- Period of Development: Characteristic symptoms appear.
- Convalescence: The body overcomes the disease and recovers.
Pandemic
A pandemic is a disease that affects a very large area, has the same origin, and spreads rapidly. AIDS is an example of a current pandemic.
Current Pandemics
AIDS and yellow fever. New diseases that could be considered pandemics include influenza and pneumonia.
AIDS
In AIDS, the virus enters a type of white blood cell and destroys it. The body reacts by producing more of these cells, but it cannot produce enough to replace those destroyed, leading to the development of the disease.
Cancer
Cancer is a disease characterized by a transformation in the cells of body tissue, causing them to reproduce abnormally and uncontrollably.
Cancer Prevention
In 1987, the European Code Against Cancer was adopted, with recommendations to reduce mortality from this disease. The main recommendations include:
- Healthy diet
- Avoiding tobacco
- Physical exercise
- Avoiding excessive sun exposure
- Complying with legislation on carcinogens in the workplace
Cardiovascular Diseases
Cardiovascular diseases affect the heart and blood vessels. Risk factors include improper diets, physical inactivity, and tobacco consumption.
Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases
- Healthy eating
- Reducing salt intake
- Regular physical exercise
- Avoiding stress
- Avoiding alcohol
Transplants
Transplants are surgical procedures where diseased tissues or organs from one person are replaced by those from another. The main disadvantage of transplantation is rejection, as the recipient’s body identifies the organ as foreign and attempts to destroy it. To prevent this, the donor and recipient must have the same blood type.