Health and Disease

HEALTH AND DISEASE

Health =
Physical well being:
includes being free from disease, eating and sleeping well, getting regullar activitiy and limiting the intake of harmful substances such as alcohol and drugs.
Social well being:
includes how well you get on with other people, and also how your surroundings affect you
Mental well being:
Includes how you feel about yourself

Microorganisms that cause diseases are called pathogens. Diseases caused by pathogens are communicable diseases as they can be passed from an infected person to other people

Some diseases are non-communicable because they are not passed from person to person. They are caused by a problem in the body such as a fault in the genes or a result of lifestyle

NON COMMUNICABLE DISEASES

Other non-communicable diseases occur as a result of poor diet or malnutriotion (too little or too much of partuiculuar nutrients from your food) The lack of certain nuetriants can cause a specific defciency disease

kwashiorkor - protein - enlarged belly, small muscles, failure to grow properly
scurvy - vitamin C - swelling and bleeding gums, muscle and joint pain, tiredness
rickets or osteomalacia - vitamin D and/or calcium - soft bones, curved leg bones
anaemia - iron - red blood cells that are smaller than normal and in reduced number, tiredness

ALCOHOL AND DISEASE

Some diseases are caused by our lifestyle. 
Ethanol found in alcoholic drinks is a drug because it changes the way the body works. Ethanol is broken down by the liver and a large amount of ethanol taken over a long period can lead to liver disease including cirrhosis.

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

Malnutrion caused by a diet that is high in sugars and fats can lead to obesity where large amounts of fat are formed under the skin and around organs such as the heart and kidneys
Too much fat can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. It is the result of a poor functioning circuluarty system. One sign of this is high blood pressure which can lead to heart pain or even a heart attack.

BMI is one way to measure the amount of fat on the body. (Body mass index)

BMI =      mass   
           height^2

An adult over the BMI of 30 is considered obese

SMOKING AND DISEASE

Tobacco smoke contains many harmful substances that are absorbed into the…