Diseases, ill health and the causes. Pathogens, drugs, genetic factors and diet.

        Mutations can occur suddenly in genes and chromosomes. Some types of radiation and some chemicals can increase the rate of mutations. Some faulty genes the can cause disease may be inherited such as Huntington’s disease and sickle cell anaemia. Genetic engineering has made it possible to make large amounts of safer drugs more quickly and cheaply for example it is used to help diabetics in the following steps: the human gene that codes for the production of insulin is identified, special enzymes are used as chemical scissors, these cut out the insulin-making gene from the rest of the DNA, A circular piece of DNA called a plasmid is removed from a bacterium, the human insulin- making gene is put into the plasmid , the plasmid is put into a bacterium, the bacterium makes insulin, the bacteria multiply very rapidly and all the bacteria produced will have the insulin gene meaning lots of insulin will be made.

        Diseases decreasing have led to an increasing population over many years. The reasons for this is because improved agriculture means that most people are better fed, Public health has improved such as better water supplies and sanitation, medical care has improved such as people can be vaccinated against many diseases. Many disease – causing organisms can be controlled inside the body with drugs or outside by other chemicals. All these have allowed fewer children to die of disease and lack of food and ultimately people are living much longer.

        Heart disease causes a quarter of all deaths in Britain; it is the biggest single killer of middle aged men in the developed world.         Their are many risk factors of Heart disease, some you can’t avoid such as Inherited genes which means heart disease  runs in families. Age, as the chances of getting heart disease increases with age. Sex, as men are more likely to get heart disease then women.  However with some risk factors you can do something about them, eating fatty foods increases cholesterol in the blood, being over-weight, smoking and taking little or no exercise are all main risks. So in order to avoid Heart disease , mainly take care of your diet such as eat more poultry and fish as they are less fatty, cut down on fried foods, eat less red meat and eat more fresh fruit and vegetables. Also take some regular exercise and don’t smoke at all.  Finally Statins are heart drugs that where invented 20 or so years ago. They have been proved to cut death rates from heart disease by 28% and futher non-fatal heart attacks by 31%. However their development has been hindered by two serious side effects, the irritation of the liver and damage to muscle cells however both are rare.

        You need very small but regular amounts of vitamins and minerals, vitamins and minerals are essential for good health and they must be in our balanced diet, if any are missing we can become very ill. Vitamin A is found in carrots, milk, butter and liver and if not in our diets it can cause sore eyes, poor night vision and unhealthy eyes. Vitamin B1 is found in yeast, cereals and beans and if not found in our diets it can cause retarded growth. Vitamin C is found in Citrus fruits and if not found in our diets can cause bleeding gum’s which is called Scurvy which was very regular for pirates. Vitamin D is found in fish oil, milk, butter and made by body in sunlight and if not found in our diets it can cause a disease called rickets or soft bones. Iron is found in liver, meat and cocoa and if not found in our diets can cause anaemia disease. Calcium is found in milk and green vegetables and if not found in our diets can cause soft bones.  Finally iodine which is found in fish and iodised salt tablets and if not found in our diet can cause the goitre disease which is an enlarged thyroid. Ultimately all these Vitamins and minerals are essential in order to prevent the various types of diseases.