AFE 101 2nd Lecture Note PDF

Contemporary Health Issues Diseases 1.  A young Bangladeshi girl infected with smallpox (1973). Due to the development of the smallpox vaccine, the disease was officially eradicated in 1979.  DISEASES Sickness is brought on by a violation of the laws of health. By ob...

Contemporary Health Issues Diseases 1.  A young Bangladeshi girl infected with smallpox (1973). Due to the development of the smallpox vaccine, the disease was officially eradicated in 1979.  DISEASES Sickness is brought on by a violation of the laws of health. By observing the laws of health and caring well for the body, it is possible to avoid at least eighty percent of the sickness with which the majority of the people are afflicted.  Definition Human Disease, in medicine, is defined as any harmful change that interferes with the normal appearance, structure, or function of the body or any of its parts. The term disease broadly refers to any condition that impairs normal function of the body. Since time immemorial, disease has played a role in the history of mankind. It has affected—and been affected by — economic conditions, wars, and natural disasters. Indeed, the impact of disease can be far greater than better-known calamities.  Influenza: Spanish flu An epidemic of influenza that swept the globe in 1918 killed from 20 million to 50 million people—two to five times more deaths than were caused by World War I (1914-1918). Within a few months, more than 500,000 Americans died of the 1918 influenza known as the Spanish flu. Epidemic of influenza Many people erroneously think that disease is an unavoidable calamity. Physicians and scientists have now demonstrated that diseases are due to specific causes. For example, some diseases are due to the body’s not being supplied with the proper kinds of nourishment; beriberi is such a diseases. There are diseases that are caused by poisons entering the body; such a disease is phosphorus poisoning, which is often contracted by those who work in match factories. Diseases may be brought on by wrong habits; for example, wrong habits of eating may cause indigestion. Many ailments are caused by bacteria, virus, fungi, algae and worms and so on. Infectious Diseases Infectious diseases are clinically evident diseases that result from the presence of pathogenic microbial agents, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multicellular organisms, and aberrant proteins known as prions. Infectious Diseases By contrast, an infection that is asymptomatic during its incubation period, but expected to produce symptoms later, is usually considered a disease. Non-Infectious Diseases Non-infectious diseases are all other diseases, including most forms of cancer, heart disease, and genetic disease. Illness Illness and sickness are generally used as synonyms for disease. However, this term is occasionally used to refer specifically to the patient's personal experience of their disease. In this model, it is possible for a person to be diseased without being ill (to have an objectively definable, but asymptomatic, medical condition). Illness In this model, it is possible for a person to be diseased without being ill (to have an objectively definable, but asymptomatic, medical condition), and to be ill without being diseased (such as when a person perceives a normal experience as a medical condition, or medicalizes a non-disease situation in his or her life). Illness Illness is often not due to infection but a collection of evolved responses and sickness behavior by the body which aids the clearing of infection. Such aspects of illness can include lethargy, depression, anorexia, sleepiness, hyperalgesia, and inability to concentrate. Disorder In medicine, a disorder is a functional abnormality or disturbance. Disorder behavioural mental emotional disorders disorders disorders genetic functional physical disorders disorders disorders Disorder The term disorder is often considered more value-neutral and less stigmatizing than the terms disease or illness, and therefore is preferred terminology in some circumstances. Disorder In mental health, the term mental disorder is used as a way of acknowledging the complex interaction of biological, social, an psychological factors in psychiatric conditions. However, the term disorder is also used in many other areas of medicine, primarily to identify physical disorders that are not caused by infectious organisms, such as metabolic disorders. Morbidity Morbidity (from Latin morbidus, meaning "sick, unhealthy") is a diseased state, disability, or poor health due to any cause. The term may be used to refer to the existence of any form of disease, or to the degree that the health condition affects the patient. Comorbidity Comorbidity is the simultaneous presence of two or more medical conditions, such as schizophrenia and substance abuse. Comorbidity In epidemiology, the term morbidity rate can refer to either the incidence rate, or the prevalence of a disease or medical condition. This measure of sickness is contrasted with the mortality rate of a condition, which is the proportion of people dying during a given time interval. Causes and Transmissibility Only some diseases such as influenza are contagious and commonly believed to be infectious. The micro-organisms that cause these diseases are known as pathogens and include varieties of bacteria, viruses, protozoa and fungi. Causes and Transmissibility Infectious diseases can be transmitted, e.g. by hand-to-mouth contact with infectious material on surfaces, by bites of insects or other carriers of the disease, and from contaminated water or food (often via faecal contamination), etc Causes and Transmissibility In addition, there are sexually transmitted diseases. In some cases, micro-organisms that are not readily spread from person to person play a role, while other diseases can be prevented or ameliorated with appropriate nutrition or other lifestyle changes. Causes and Transmissibility Some diseases, such as most (but not all) forms of cancer, heart disease and mental disorders, are non-infectious diseases. Many non-infectious diseases have a partly or completely genetic basis and may thus be transmitted from one generation to another. Burdens of disease Disease burden is the impact of a health problem in an area measured by financial cost, mortality, morbidity, or other indicators. There are several measures used to quantify the burden imposed by diseases on people. Burdens of disease The years of potential life lost (YPLL) is a simple estimate of the number of years that a person's life was shortened due to a disease. Burdens of disease For example, if a person dies at the age of 65 from a disease, and would probably have lived until age 80 without that disease, then that disease has caused a loss of 15 years of potential life. YPLL measurements do not account for how disabled a person is before dying, so the measurement treats a person who dies suddenly and a person who died at the same age after decades of illness as equivalent.  Burdens of disease For example, if a person dies at the age of 65 from a disease, and would probably have lived until age 80 without that disease, then that disease has caused a loss of 15 years of potential life. YPLL measurements do not account for how disabled a person is before dying, so the measurement treats a person who dies suddenly and a person who died at the same age after decades of illness as equivalent. In 2004, the World Health Organization calculated that 932 million years of potential life were lost to premature death. The quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and disability-adjusted life year (DALY) metrics are similar, but take into account whether the person was healthy after diagnosis. In addition to the number of years lost due to premature death, these measurements add part of the years lost to being sick. Therapy {Treatments} Medical therapies or treatments are efforts to cure or improve a disease or other health problems. In the medical field, therapy is synonymous with the word treatment. Among psychologists, the term may refer specifically to psychotherapy or "talk therapy". Common treatments include medications, surgery, medical devices, and self-care Therapy {Treatments} Treatments may be provided by an organized health care system, or informally, by the patient or family members. A prevention or preventive therapy is a way to avoid an injury, sickness, or disease in the first place. A treatment or cure is applied after a medical problem has already started. Therapy {Treatments} A treatment attempts to improve or remove a problem, but treatments may not produce permanent cures, especially in chronic diseases. Cures are a subset of treatments that reverse diseases completely or end medical problems permanently. Many diseases that cannot be completely cured are still treatable. Pain management Pain management (also called pain medicine) is that branch of medicine employing an interdisciplinary approach to the relief of pain and improvement in the quality of life of those living with pain. Treatment for medical emergencies must be provided promptly, often through an emergency department or, in less critical situations, through an urgent care facility. Other Health Terminologies Airborne disease: a disease that spreads through the air contagious disease, a subset of infectious diseases. Cryptogenic disease: a disease whose cause is currently unknown. Disseminated disease: a disease that is spread throughout the body. Other Health Terminologies Lifestyle disease: a disease caused largely by lifestyle choices Localized disease: a disease affecting one body part or area. Non-communicable disease: a disease that cannot spread between people. Other Health Terminologies Progressive disease: a disease that gets worse over time Rare disease: a disease that affects very few people Systemic disease: a disease that affects the whole body. End of lecture