Question

State two main causes of disease.

Answer 1

Hint: There are certain microorganisms which when enter our body can cause it to malfunction. There are some diseases we develop during our lifetime while some are inherited from our forefathers.

Complete answer:
- The disease is an abnormal condition that negatively affects the functioning of all or part of an organism.

- Diseases are often associated with specific signs and symptoms. The study of diseases is called pathology.

- Diseases can be of two types-communicable and non-communicable diseases.

- In an infectious disease, the incubation period is the time between the infection and appearance of the symptoms. The latency period is the time between infection and its ability to spread to another person.

- An acute disease is a short-lived disease like a common cold whereas chronic disease is the one that lasts for a long time like cancer.

- Most of the diseases and disorders can be prevented by sanitation, exercise, vaccinations, proper nutrition, and public health measures.

The two main causes of disease can be-
1. Immediate cause- When a pathogen (microorganism) enters our body and causes the disease. For example- bacteria cause syphilis, tetanus, tuberculosis; virus causes chickenpox, smallpox, measles; fungi causes ringworm infection, athlete’s foot, etc.
2. Contributory cause- These are the secondary factors that lead these organisms to enter our body. For example dirty water, contaminated food, dirty surroundings, etc.

Note:
> Communicable diseases are the diseases that can be transferred to another person via contact, water, air, etc, for instance sexually transmitted diseases, the common cold.
> Non –communicable diseases include all the genetic disorders, mental disorders, deficiency disorders which are non-infectious, for example, heart disease, cancer.