Diseases - major types of disease and their treatment

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General Principles of Control and Treatment

Major groups of disease

Health, as defined by the world health organization, is the complete physical, mental and social well-being of an individual, and not just the absence of disease. Disease is the condition in which the normal state of an organism is modified or damaged. Diseases may be classified as: pathogenic, deficiency, hereditary or physiological.

Pathogenic Diseases

One of the main causes of disease in an organism is the presence of another organism, a parasite, living on or in its body from which it gets food. In so doing, parasites often damage tissues or produce toxins which poison its host, causing diseases. Pathogen is a term used to describe parasites which cause disease. The diseases are referred to as pathogenic.

The main groups of pathogenic organisms include viruses and bacteria. These organisms are responsible for a wide range of pathogenic diseases. Viral diseases include influenza, dengue, polio, chicken pox and AIDS. Bacterial diseases include rheumatic fever, sore throat, food poisoning, leprosy, cholera, typhoid, syphilis and gonorrhea. Other important pathogens are found in protozoa (malaria parasite), roundworms and fungi (ringworm and athlete’s foot).

Deficiency Diseases

Deficiency diseases are caused by the shortage or lack of certain essential factors in the diet, e.g anaemia, protein energy malnutrition (PEM) and rickets. These diseases are more common in developing and under-developed countries than in developed countries. This may be due to the following reasons:

 Shortage of a particular type food

Low income: shortage of money and an inability to buy the right kinds of food

Lack of proper education

Hereditary Diseases

Hereditary diseases are passed from one generation to another and as such cannot be cured. An individual suffers from hereditary disease simply from a hereditary disease simply because the factors that cause the disease have been passed to him by one or both parents, e.g. sickle-cell anaemia and haemophilia.

Physiological Diseases

A body organ may malfunction or its cellular structure may change over a period of time. The proper working of the body is affected and this results in physiological diseases. Two such diseases common in the Caribbean are diabetes and hypertension.

Treatment and Control

Treatment refers to steps taken to deal with a disease in an individual who is ill, for example, taking medication, changing the diet, or changing some pattern of behavior. Control refers to measures taken to prevent disease spreading throughout a population. Control measures for some diseases also include treating those persons who are already ill thus removing a source of infection. The treatment and control of diseases depend on the cause of the disease and the method of transmission.

Pathogenic Disease

Pathogenic diseases can be controlled in different ways. The method selected depends on two main factors: (i) the pathogen and (ii) the method of transmission i.e how the pathogen gets from one person to another.

Pathogens may be:

Airborne: The organisms are carried in tiny droplets of moisture released by coughing, sneezing and talking. These diseases spread rapidly in overcrowded conditions e.g. buses, classrooms, or public meetings.

Waterborne: Some organisms are found in contaminated water. Large numbers of people are infected quickly when organisms enter water supplies through insanitary practices such as improper disposal of faeces.

Foodborne: Unwashed hands and/or contaminated water used in food preparation can infect food. Some pathogens use animals which humans eat as agents of transmission. Food that is not properly cooked, or kept in sanitary conditions after cooking, can cause infection.

Direct contact: Pathogen are sometimes spread by direct bodily contact with an infected person or contact with objects handled by them, such as towels, clothing, hair combs etc.

Animal borne: animals which transmit pathogens are called vectors. Pathogens may be carried by vectors (i) on their body surface e.g. houseflies or (ii) inside their bodies e.g mosquitoes.

Effective treatment of pathogenic diseases would involve eliminating the pathogen. This can be done by using medication/drugs which kill the pathogen and relieve the symptoms of the disease such as fever, swelling etc.

Control measures are aimed at preventing transmission. This may involve killing vectors or destroying their breeding grounds, improvements in public sanitation and personal hygiene as well as public education on how a particular disease is spread. Vaccination campaigns and quarantine laws are also very important for preventing the spread of some diseases from one country to another, as well as within a country.

Deficiency Disease

The lack of absence of certain essential factors in the diet may result in clearly defined symptoms. The addition of these factors to the diet usually removes these symptoms. For example, a lack of iron in the diet of man results in anaemia. The person experiences shortness of breath, general tiredness and has a pale appearance. Eating foods rich in iron or taking iron supplements would control iron-deficiency anaemia.

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Hereditary Diseases

Hereditary diseases cannot be cured because of how they are transmitted. Until it becomes possible to alter the genetic makeup of an individual only by the symptoms of genetic disorders can be controlled. In all cases of hereditary diseases, genetic counseling is advised.

Haemophilia, or ‘bleeder’s disease’, is a disease where the blood fails to clot or clots at a very slow rate resulting in excessive bleeding from small cuts and wounds. Persons suffering with this disease could be informed on what to expect and what activities to avoid. Various commercial preparations are now available which encourage ...

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