What Are the Main Ways to Treat Diseases in Biology?
It is always better to be safe and secure than cure it after being affected. Due to many reasons, we get sick every now and then. In case of illness, we take medicines, vaccines, or visit a doctor for consultation. It is always better to be safe and secure than cure it after being affected. Falling ill can be prevented by taking care of our health and it is the only way to do so. But sometimes, it becomes too complicated and can only treat a disease after getting affected. Here is a detailed explanation of the principles of treatment of diseases.
Principles of Treatment of Diseases
The major factor that determines the number of microbes surviving in the body is the immune system. Infectious diseases can be treated in two ways which are discussed below.
Reduce the effect of the disease: Medicines are used to reduce the effect of illness. For example, illness such as the common cold does not have a cure; hence, treating symptoms will ease the illness to an extent.
It is advisable to have bed rest so that the body gets some relaxation. Personal hygiene can also be maintained to reduce the effect of the disease. However, this does not completely cure the cause of the disease but only subsides the effect of the disease. To prevent the spread of the ailment, sterilized products and eating healthy food are recommended.
Kill the cause of the disease: Process of using medicines that kills the pathogens. To survive, each microbe undergoes some specific biochemical life process. To kill the biochemical processes of the microorganism causing the disease, certain drugs can be used.
Working Nature of Medicine
By the use of medicine, the microbes have to be killed to cure the disease. Microbes are classified into different categories such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, or protozoa. Each of these groups of organisms has some essential biochemical life processes that are peculiar to that group and not shared with the other groups.
These processes are the gateway for the synthesis of new substances or respiration. For example, our cells make new substances by a mechanism that is completely different from that used by bacteria. Therefore, the drug that blocks the bacterial synthesis pathway without affecting our own cells is used for curing bacterial disease. In the same way, antibiotic drugs work. Consequently, there are certain drugs that kill protozoa such as malarial parasites without affecting the cells of our body.
Antiviral drugs are more difficult to produce than producing antibacterial drugs because viruses have only a few biochemical mechanisms of their own. The viruses enter the host cells and start using the host’s machinery for their life processes. Therefore, there are relatively few virus drugs, which check a number of viral diseases including HIV infection.
FAQs on Principle of Treatment in Biology: Core Concepts & Approaches
1. What are the two main strategies used to treat any disease?
The treatment for any disease generally follows two main principles, which can be used together or separately:
- Symptomatic Treatment: This focuses on reducing the symptoms of a disease, like fever, pain, or inflammation. It provides relief but doesn't eliminate the actual cause of the illness.
- Etiological Treatment: This aims to kill the root cause of the disease, such as the invading microbes. For example, using antibiotics to kill bacteria is an etiological treatment.
2. Why do doctors sometimes only treat the symptoms and not the cause of an illness?
Sometimes, only symptomatic treatment is given because there may not be a direct cure for the cause, as is the case with many viral infections like the common cold. By managing symptoms like fever and body ache with medicines like paracetamol, the patient feels more comfortable, and their body can conserve energy to fight the infection naturally with its own immune system.
3. What is the key difference between the principles of treatment and prevention?
The main difference is their timing and goal. Treatment is applied after a person is already sick, with the goal of curing the illness or managing its symptoms. In contrast, prevention is applied before a person gets sick to avoid the disease entirely. For instance, taking an antibiotic for a bacterial infection is treatment, while getting a vaccine to avoid that infection is prevention.
4. Why are antibiotics useless against viral infections like the common cold?
Antibiotics are specifically designed to disrupt essential processes in bacteria, such as building their cell walls. Viruses do not have these bacterial pathways; instead, they use our own body's cell machinery to replicate. Since antibiotics can't target our own cells without causing harm, they are completely ineffective against viruses.
5. Why is it so much harder for scientists to create drugs for viruses than for bacteria?
It is more challenging because viruses have very few of their own biochemical mechanisms. They essentially hijack our host cells to live and multiply. Therefore, a drug designed to stop a virus often risks interfering with our own healthy cell functions, which can cause serious side effects. Bacteria, however, are separate organisms with unique structures, like cell walls, that can be targeted safely.
6. If a doctor can treat both the symptoms and the cause, what is the usual approach?
In this case, both treatments are important and often used together. The etiological treatment is crucial for a complete cure. However, symptomatic treatment is often given first to provide immediate relief and make the patient stable. For example, with bacterial pneumonia, a doctor prescribes antibiotics to kill the bacteria (the cause) while also giving medicine to reduce fever and ease breathing (the symptoms).
7. How does the principle of prevention work in the real world?
The principle of prevention is applied in two main ways:
- General Prevention: These are public health measures that reduce everyone's exposure to germs. Examples include providing clean drinking water, ensuring public sanitation, and maintaining a clean environment.
- Specific Prevention: This involves strengthening an individual's immune system against a particular disease, most commonly through immunisation or vaccination. This prepares the body to fight off an infection before it can take hold.
