Course: Health & Society

Course ID:HEA101

Lecture – 1
Introduction to Health & Society,
human anatomy and physiology
 Disease Categories

• Infectious Disease (Chronic & Acute)

(spreading from one organism to another)
• Noninfectious Disease (Chronic & Acute)
(does not spread from one organism to
another)
• Physical disease
• Social diseases

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 What is Infectious Disease?
• A disease caused by organisms that enter
the body and multiply within the human
body.

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 What is Infectious Disease?
Infectious Diseases may be caused by:
• Bacteria
• Virus
• Parasites

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 Stages of infectious diseases?
• Incubation period: is the time between
infection and the appearance of
symptoms.
• Latency period: is the time between
infection and the ability of the disease to
spread to another person, which may
precede, follow, or be simultaneous with
the appearance of symptoms.

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 What are bacteria?
• Bacteria are a large group of single-
celled, micro organisms and are capable
of multiplying by themselves..
• There are approximately ten times as
many bacterial cells in the human flora of
bacteria as there are human cells in the
body. The vast majority of the bacteria in
the body are rendered harmless by the
protective effects of the immune system,
and a few are beneficial.
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 What are bacteria?

• However, there are species of bacteria

that are pathogenic and cause infectious
like including cholera, syphilis, anthrax,
leprosy and bubonic plague etc.

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 What are viruses?
• A virus is a small infectious agent that can
replicate only inside the living cells of
organisms

• Viruses can't multiply on their own

• They attack a 'host' cell and take over its

machinery in order to be able to make
more virus particles.

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 What are viruses?

• An increasing number of antiviral remedies

are being developed that prevent the virus
multiplying. Unfortunately, these remedies
can be used on very few viruses

• Antibiotics have no effect upon viral

infections. it is important that we limit
antibiotic use only to bacterial infections
that won't get better on their own.
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 What are viruses?

• Over-use of antibiotics reduces their

effectiveness by encouraging the growth
of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which is a
serious and increasing problem globally.

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 What are parasites?
• Parasites are organisms that derive
nourishment and protection from other living
organisms known as hosts.

• They may be transmitted from animals to

humans, from humans to humans, or from
humans to animals.

• These organisms live and reproduce within the

tissues and organs of infected human and
animal hosts, and are often excreted in feces.

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 What are parasites?

• How do they vary?

Parasites range from tiny, single-celled,
microscopic organisms (protozoa) to
larger, multi-cellular worms (helminths)
that may be seen without a microscope.

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 What are vector borne diseases?

• A vector-borne disease is one in which the

pathogenic micro organism is transmitted
from an infected individual to another
individual by an arthropod or other agent.
• sometimes other animals serve as
intermediary hosts.

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 What is Noninfectious Disease?

• Noninfectious diseases are also known as

non-communicable diseases.
• Diseases that are not transmitted by
means of a pathogen (foreign invaders on
in the human body).

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 What is Noninfectious Disease?

Non-infectious diseases may be caused by:

 Environmental factors:
 nutritional deficiencies,
 lifestyle choices, or

 Genetic inheritances.

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 What is Noninfectious Disease?
Inherited diseases:
Genetic Disorders are caused by errors in
genetic information that produce diseases
in the affected people. These errors may
include:
 A change in the chromosome numbers.
 A defect in a single gene caused by
mutation.
 A rearrangement of genetic information .

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 Chronic & Acute Disease

 Chronic Disease :A disease or health

condition that lasts longer than three
months, sometimes for the remainder of
one's life.
 Acute Disease :A disease or health
condition that occurs and subsides
within three months, usually within days
or weeks.

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 How are infectious diseases acquired?

• Inhalation
• Ingestion
– Food, water, soil
• Percutaneous inoculation
• Absorption from mucous membranes
• Exposure to blood and body fluids
• Vector borne.

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 What are emerging diseases?
• An emerging disease is one that has
appeared in a population for the first time,
or
• whose incidence has increased in the past
20 years and threatens to increase in the
near future .

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 What are emerging diseases?
• EIDs include diseases caused by a newly
identified micro organism or newly
identified strain of a known micro organism
(e.g. SARS, AIDS);

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 What are re-emerging diseases?

• If a disease that had been present at a

location in the past and was considered
eradicated or controlled, appears again,
the disease is considered to be re-
emerging. 

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 Some Examples of Acute Noninfectious
Diseases?
• Heart Attack
• Stroke
• Cardiac Arrest

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Some Examples of Chronic Noninfectious
Diseases?
• Diabetes
• Osteoporosis
• Arthritis
• Heart (cardiovascular) Disease
• Cancer
• Hypertension

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 Disease Prevention (infectious and
noninfectious)
There are three ways/methods of disease
prevention:
 Primary Prevention
 Secondary Prevention
 Tertiary Prevention

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 Primary Prevention (infectious disease)

Primary Prevention —These are prevention

measures before the disease happens.

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 Primary Prevention (infectious disease)

Methods of Primary Prevention:

• Keeping yourself clean—wash hands with
antibacterial soaps & shower.
• Get enough rest.
• Exercise on a regular basis.
• Eat Right
• Seclusion or avoidance—staying away
from infected individuals.

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 Secondary Prevention

Secondary Prevention —These are

measures that lead to early diagnosis &
prompt treatment of a disease or injury to
limit disability and prevent a more severe
disease

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 Secondary Prevention

Methods:
• Visit your doctor on a regular basis.
• Visit your doctor for regular physicals.
• Visit your “doc” for regular physicals.

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 Tertiary Prevention
Tertiary Prevention: These are measures
aimed at rehabilitation following significant
disease.

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 Tertiary Prevention

Methods:
• Medications
• Chemotherapy
• Surgery
• Dialysis

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 Social diseases

• Drug abuse

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 Social factors affecting disease

• Standard of housing –
overcrowding/unhygienic.
• Literacy
• Environmental factors such as levels of
pollution.
• Access to fresh water supply

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 Social factors affecting disease
• Lack of food – deficiency diseases.
• Excess of food – diseases associated with
obesity & cardiovascular disease.
• Occupation
• Exposure and/or abuse of drugs

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