Disease and

its Impact
on Humans
By Xia Francis, Jodell
Campbell, Dinah Ho,
Daeshanelle Bignham
What is a disease?
A disease is a condition that impairs the normal
functioning of cells, tissues or organs and it leads to
the health of an organism being damaged.
Diseases can be divided into four main types:
• pathogenic diseases
• deficiency diseases
• hereditary diseases
• physiological diseases.
Pathogenic disease

A pathogen is an organism that causes diseases to its host such as viruses, bacteria, fungi,
protozoans. They can be transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, body fluids, airborne
particles, contact with feces, and surfaces that have been touched by an infected person.
Examples of pathogenic diseases are aids (virus), gonorrhea (bacteria),malaria (protozoans)
and ringworm (fungi).
Deficiency disease

A deficiency disease can be defined as an illness that is caused by a lack of an essential

nutrient in the diet.
Examples of this is, anemia which is a lack of iron, scurvy caused by a lack of vitamin c and
kwashiorkor which is caused by a deficiency of protein.
Hereditary A hereditary disease is a genetic disorder that occurs
when one or more genes are altered, resulting in the
creation of an abnormal gene. When the gene is
disease passed down from one generation to the next, it is a
hereditary genetic disorder.
Examples are sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis and
down syndrome.
Physiological disease

When the body’s organs malfunction, it is said to have a physiological problem.

Physiological disorders typically result from the body’s organs malfunctioning, not
functioning, or the actual cellular structures changing over time, which affects the body’s
ability to function regularly or properly and results in illness.
Examples include diabetes, glaucoma, and asthma.
Disease Method of Treatment Example
Pathogenic Antibiotics which can be taken orally or by injection, Viruses such as the common cold or most sore
and they work to treat or prevent some types of throats can be treated with an antibiotic.
bacterial infection.

Deficiency A deficiency disease can be treated by the A person who lacks vitamin A can be treated by the
consumption of foods that are rich in the vitamin consumption of leafy green vegetables or vitamin A
that is lacking supplements

Hereditary A few disorders can be treated with gene therapy, Several inherited immune deficiencies have been
which is a medical approach that treats or prevents treated successfully with gene therapy such as SCID
the disease by correcting the underlying gene (severe combined immune deficiency)
problem

Physiological There are several ways in which physiological Long-term control medications such as inhaled
diseases can be treated. Depending on the disease, corticosteroids are the most important medications
it can be treated with non-drug therapy or other used to keep asthma under control.
methods such as surgery.
 A vector is a living organism that
transmits an infectious agent from
an infected animal to a human or
Roles of another animal usually by a biting.
Vectors are frequently arthropods,
Vectors in such as mosquitoes, ticks, flies, fleas
Disease and lice.
Transmission
Stages of
Life of a
Mosquito
When a mosquito ages, it goes through metamorphosis
and passes through four distinct stages. The first stage is
the egg. This is when an adult female lays eggs in safe areas
that have water. The egg floats on top of the water and the
larva hatches from the egg. This stage is known as the
feeding and growing stage. Larvaes habitat is the water,
where they stay at the surface and breathe using tubes
while feeding on microorganisms and organic matter in the
water.​​The pupa develops from the larva. It is the non
feeding stage where larval tissue matures into adult tissue.
They reside in the water where they hang from the surface
and breathe using two breathing tubes. The last stage is
where the adult comes out from the pupa. This is the flying
and reproducing stage. They live in and surround human
residences while resting in cool, dark places in the day and
feed in the evenings.
 Mosquitoes are vectors that carries pathogens which
can multiply within their bodies and be delivered to
new hosts, usually by biting. Malaria spreads when a
mosquito becomes infected with the disease after
biting an infected person, and the infected mosquito
then bites a noninfected person. The malaria
parasites enter that person's bloodstream and travel
to the liver. When the parasites mature, they leave the
Mosquitoes liver and infect red blood cells. A Mosquito becomes
infected when it bites a person who has dengue in his
or her blood. After about a week, the mosquito is able
Role as a to spread the disease to another person when it bites.
Direct spread of dengue from one person to another

Vector does not occur. Yellow fever is spread by the bite of

infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. A mosquito
becomes infected when it bites a person who has
yellow fever in his or her blood. Direct spread of
yellow fever from one person to another does not
occur.
 • As it relates to any disease, control is mandatory. To avoid
spreading the disease, the control of vectors contains the diseases
spread by them. In order to control any vector, the life cycle must
be understood to formulate which stage(s) would be the simplest
and most efficient. The eggs hatch to release larvae as soon as the
temperature rises. You can dramatically lower the mosquito
population in your home if you can get rid of any standing water.
Always treat pool water, regularly change the water in birdbaths,

Mosquito and remove standing water from your yard.The larvae and pupae
is most efficiently controlled by draining all standing water,adding
insecticides to areas that breeding occurs in, introducing fish that

Prevention
feed on larvae and pupae into the breeding areas and spraying
non-toxic lecithins into breeding sites to prevent the larvae and
pupae from breathing. Adult mosquitos are best controlled by
spraying with insecticides and removing dense vegetation to
remove protection for them during daylight hours.
AIDS and HIV

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, which is more commonly known as AIDS, is the disease that
occurs when a person is at risk of getting life-threatening infections and cancers. This is caused by
becoming infected with HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) which afterwards weakens the body’s
immune system. A person who becomes infected with HIV could have encountered two major
transmissions, these are:
• Anal or Vaginal sex, whereas vaginal fluids, semen or pre-seminal fluid have been exchanged.
• Blood, a person HIV positive blood enters the bloodstream of someone who is HIV negative.
However, certain precautions have been made to prevent the transmission of AIDS which include using a
condom during sexual intercourse, never sharing needles, and limiting sexual partners and getting tested
and treated for STDs. There is currently no cure for the disease, but many medications have been made
to prevent complications such as antiretroviral therapy which acts on different stages of the HIV life-cycle.
Gonorrhea

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease caused by infected with the Neisseria gonorrhoeae
bacterium and infects both men and women. It mostly affects the urethra, rectum or throat; for
women it also affects the cervix. Similar to AIDS, Gonorrhea is most commonly spread during
vaginal, oral or anal sex, however this can be prevented with the use of a condom. Unlike AIDS,
adults with gonorrhea are treated with the antibiotic known as ceftriaxone, which is taken by
injection.

Though some STDs can be easily treated, it leaves long term health problems, particularly
affecting women and infants. Health complications include pelvic inflammatory disease,
infertility, cervical cancer, or congenital infections in infants born to infected mothers.
Blood’s Role
The blood plays a large role in defending the
in Disease body against diseases.
Defense
Phagocytes

• Phagocytes eliminate pathogenic bacteria, fungi and malignant cells, and contribute to
adaptive immunity by presenting antigens to lymphocytes.
 • Blood clotting, or coagulation,
prevent excessive bleeding when
a blood vessel is injured. Platelets
and enzymes in the plasma work
together to clot the blood over
The Clotting the injury stopping the bleeding.
The clot that is formed works as a
Mechanism plaster that prevents micro-
organisms and bacteria from
penetrating the wound.
 • Natural immunity happens after infection by a
Natural germ and the immune system responds by making
protein molecules found on the surface of red

Immunity
blood cells called antibodies. These antibodies
recognise foreign substances, such as germs, and
alert the immune system, which destroys them.
 • The principle in immunization is to
introduce a harmless preparation
of the antigens from an infectious
agent into the body of a person,
Artificial who becomes immune to the
immunity infectious agent as a result.
 • One drug can affect different people both physically and mentally.
Depressants for example, which are commonly abused in society and can

the
be easily accessed, are drugs that slow or reduce arousal and stimulation.
Though this drug will let people feel ‘at ease’, it can also affect one by
inducing anxiety, and harsher drugs such as opioids( heroin, fentanyl, etc)
which can slow down breathing and heart rate, leading to death. More

physiologica widely used depressants such as alcohol can lead to cancer or high blood
pressure. In some cases, drugs that have even been prescribed to a patient
by their doctor are abused. For example, tranquilizers, which are used to

l, social and reduce anxiety, fear or tension, are highly abused and can induce
respiratory depression resulting in coma and uncommonly death. Another
example, which is commonly used by athletes are steroids which are used

economic
to treat rheumatologic diseases. When improperly used, it can cause
medical complications such as high blood pressure and heart disease.

effects of • For the most part, drugs are manufactured for medical reasons, but in
many cases those who abuse drugs to feel pleasure, fight depression or
other reasons can affect their social life. A significant change in cognitive

drug abuse. behavior will affect those in the workplace, school and home causing
violence, poverty, unemployment or the disruption of families and
marriages.
Disease within human populations can cause loss of wealth as persons with the disease are
incompetent to work resulting in businesses becoming less productive due to a reduction
in hours of labour, therefore foreshortening the economy. Demands on health services
increase as more people have to seek treatment. Ultimately, human resources are lost and
standards of living are reduced. Disease within livestock and agricultural crops result in
decreased or lost food production, loss of income for the farmer, and a reduced economy,
especially if the produce was for export. It also leads to decreased food availability,
increased food prices on the local market and reduced standards of living of those whose
livelihoods depend on agriculture. Statistics show that due to a pathogenic disease that
spread quickly throughout the world in 2020 Jamaica has had its GDP fall by an estimated
9.9% in 2020, which was the largest decline in the country’s history. Which shows the
effects of a pandemic on a countries economy.