Correct
balance of the
different foods
which our body
needs:
carbohydrates,
fats, proteins,
vitamins,
minerals, and
water.
A person is malnourished if
their diet isn't balanced.
Leads to a person being too fat or too thin.
Can lead to deficiency
diseases and conditions such
as Type 2 diabetes.
Exercise
Increases the amount of energy
expended by the body.
A person will lose mass if the energy
content of food taken in is less than the
amount of energy expended by the body.
People who exercise regularly
are usually healthier than
people who take little exercise.
Metabolic Rate
The metabolic rate is the rate at which all
chemical reactions are carried out in the cells of
the body.
The rate varies with
The amount of activity you do (your metabolic rate
increases with the amount of exercise you do, and
stays high for some time afterwards.
The proportion of muscle to fat in your body.
Bacteria and Viruses
They are pathogens.
Defence against Pathogens
White blood cells
ingest pathogens
produce antitoxins to neutralize toxins
produce antibodies to
destroy particular
pathogens (this leads to
immunity from that
pathogen)
The differences
Bacteria: very small, reproduce very
quickly, can produce toxins that make us
feel ill, responsible for illnesses such as
tetanus, cholera, tuberculosis
Viruses: smaller than bacteria, reproduce very
quickly once inside the living cell (which is then
damaged), can produce toxins, responsible for
illnesses like colds, flu, measles, polio
Treatment for Diseases
Painkillers
Alleviate symptoms but don't kill pathogens
Antibiotics
Often used to kill bacteria inside the body
Specific bacteria have to be treated with specific antibiotics
Cannot kill viruses
It is difficult to develop
drugs that kill viruses
without damaging the
body's tissues
Overuse of Antibiotics
When antibiotics are overused, the
bacteria may mutate to develop strains that are
immune to that certain antibiotic
Some individual bacteria may have natural resistance to an antibiotic
When bacteria of the
non-resistant strain are killed, the
resistant strain survive and
reproduce, thus increasing the
population of the resistant strain
Vaccination
A person acquires immunity to
a particular disease by being
vaccined
If a large proportion of the
population are immune to a
pathogen then the spread of
the pathogen is very much
reduced
An inactive/dead pathogen is injected into the body
White blood cells produce antibodies to destroy the pathogen
White blood cells are now sensitized to this pathogen and will
respond to any future infection rapidly and therefore the body has
acquired immunity to this pathogen
Preparing Cultures
Culture Medium
Microorganisms can be grown in culture mediums
containing various nutrients that the microorganism
may need
May include: carbohydrates, mineral ions, vitamins, proteins
Agar is most commonly used as the growth medium
Soft jelly-like substance that melts easily
and re-solidifies at around 50 degrees
Celsius
The other
nutrients are
added to agar in
order to provide
the ideal
growing
conditions for
cultures
Uncontaminated Cultures
Required for investigating the
action of antibiotics and
disinfectants
Sterilization of petri dishes and
culture medium using an autoclave
Sterilization of inoculating loops (do not
blow on the loop or wave it around as it
will pick up more microorganisms)
Sealing the petri with tape dish after
the agar has been poured in and
allowed to cool. The dish should be
stored upside down so the
condensation forms in the lid.
Ignaz Semmelweiss
Reduced patient deaths in wards from 12% to 1% in his
local hospitals by insisting that doctors washed their
hands after surgery and before visiting another patient
His work and the work of other subsequent
scientists has led to the creation of many
modern hygiene standards in hospitals and has
reduced the chance of infections being spread