The body needs needs a
mixture of different types of
food to keep healthy
Our diet is split into food groups. The
main ones being; Carbohydrates,
Protein and Fats
Carbohydrates (Bread, pasta, potatoes etc.)
are responsible as a source of energy for life
Proteins (Meat, Fish, Eggs etc.) are responsible for
the growth and repair of cells
Fats (Butter, margarine, oil etc.) act as both
energy for life process as well as cell
membranes for insulation
Minerals and vitamins are also
needed in small amounts to
help the body function
Exercise
The Metabolic rate is the speed at
which a body's cells respire(
release energy from food) and it
varies due to gender, age and other
inherited factors
A person's metabolic rate is affected
by the proportion of muscle to fat in
their body and the amount of exercise
they do
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is made in the liver
and is needed for healthy cell
membranes
Too much cholesterol in the blood
increases the risk of heart disease and
diseased arteries
Diet
A healthy diet and plenty of exercise is needed for a
healthy body. This is called malnourished.
Too little food will lead to being underweight
and makes the body more prone to certain
illnesses
A deficiency of vitamin D can lead to
rickets.
Too much food and not exercise will lead
to being underweight and makes the body
more prone to other certain types of
illnesses
Too much sugar can lead to type 2
diabetes.
Defending Against Infection
Pathogens
Pathogens are micro-organisms
that cause disease and exist as
either bacteria or viruses
Pathogens contain certain chemicals
called antigens that are foreign to the
body
Bacteria
Once inside the body, bacteria release toxins
that make us feel ill
Bacteria, once in favourable
conditions are able to rapidly
multiply
Bacteria are able to disease the human body
with food poisoning, cholera, typhoid and
whooping cough
Viruses
Viruses are a lot smaller than bacteria and only
reproduce in host cells which damages the cell
Once in a cell, a virus can take over the cell and
making hundreds of thousands copies of itself
Once the cell is filled with copies, it bursts and the
viruses are passed out by the blood stream and
airway
Viruses can cause influenza, colds,
measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox
and AIDs
Immunity
Antibodies
White Blood Cells
White blood cells ingest pathogens
Antitoxins are specialised
proteins produced to
counteract toxins released
by the pathogens
Certain white blood cells
called Lymphocytes can
produce specific antibodies
to kill particular pathogens
Each lymphocyte produces a specific type
of antibody - a protein that has a chemical
'fit' to a certain antigen. When a
lymphocyte with the appropriate antibody
meets the antigen, the lymphocyte
reproduces quickly and makes many
copies of the antibody to kill the pathogen.
Antibodies are
specialised proteins
produced to kill
particular pathogens
Antibodies can either coat pathogens, clumping them
together so that they are easily ingested by white blood
cells called phagocytes or bind to pathogens and
damage/destroy them
Vaccination
Different vaccines are
needed for different
pathogens e.g the MMR
vaccine is used to protect
children against measles,
mumps and rubella
(German measles)
Vaccination involves putting a small
amount of an inactive form of a pathogen,
or dead pathogen, into the body
Vaccination causes the
body to produce enough
white blood cells to protect
itself against a pathogen
This means that if they do
ever contract the pathogen,
they will have the right
antibody to stop it
Hygiene
In the 19th century Semmelweiss discovered that
the washing of hands could greatly reduce the
number deaths by infectious diseases in hospitals
Medication
Painkillers
Painkillers do not kill pathogens but
relieve the symptoms of a diseases
Antibiotics
Antibiotics are substances that kill
bacteria or stop their growth
They do not work against
viruses because they live and
reproduce inside cells
It is difficult to develop drugs
that kill viruses without also
damaging the body’s tissues
Penicillin, the first antibiotic, was
discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming.
He noticed that some bacteria he had left
in a Petri dish had been killed by naturally
occurring penicillium mould. Since the
discovery of penicillin, many other
antibiotics have been discovered and
developed
Antibiotic Resistance
Bacterial strains can develop resistance to
antibiotics. This happens because of natural
selection. In a large population of bacteria, there
may be some cells that are not affected by the
antibiotic. These cells survive and reproduce,
producing even more bacteria that are not affected
by the antibiotic
MRSA
Methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus is a
strain of bacterium which is
immune to most antibiotics
To slow down the development of antibiotic
resistant strains we should always avoid the
unnecessary use of antibiotics and complete
the full course
The main steps in the
development of resistance
are:
1. Antibiotics kill individual
pathogens of the
non-resistant strain.
2.Resistant individual
pathogens survive and
reproduce
3.The population of
the resistant
pathogens increases
Growing
Micro-organisms
in the lab
Uncontaminated cultures of
micro-organisms are required for
investigating the action of disinfectants
To do this you must:
1. Sterilise Petri dishes and
culture media (Agar Jelly etc.)
before use to kill unwanted
micro-organisms
2. Sterilise inoculating loops by
passing through a frame
3. Secure lid of Petri dish with
adhesive tapes to prevent
micro-organisms from the air
contaminating the culture
Heightened temperatures are likely to
increase growth and is therefore dangerous
close to 37 degrees centigrade as it might allow the
growth of pathogens harmful to health
School labs are limited to 25 degrees centigrade
incubation