Question

Write a short note on disease.

Answer 1

Hint:Health is defined as the complete state of physical, mental and social well being. When a person is not normal in any of these parameters, he or she is referred to as suffering from a disease. There are various types of diseases and each disease can affect a particular organ or a group of organs.

Complete answer:
Diseases are defined as the conditions seen when the body is deviated from a state of being normal. They are the medical conditions which are present with certain signs and symptoms. These symptoms can vary according to the organ affected as well as according to the severity of the disease. So, to what is abnormal, we should first be knowing what is abnormal and then only we can differentiate the normal state of the body from the diseased state. When we suffer from disease, we show certains signs such as cough, cold and itchy eyes. These signs are called “symptoms”.

We can classify diseases based on various factors-
i) Anatomic classification- Diseases are classified based on the organ and tissues affected.
ii) Topographic classification- They are again divided into vascular diseases, chest diseases, abdominal diseases, etc.
iii) Physiological classification- These types of diseases affect the function of a particular organ.
iv) Pathological classification- This classification is based on the nature of the diseases. For example- cancer.
v) Epidemiological disease- It is based on the rate and distribution of the disease.

Diseases can be broadly classified into two types-
i) Infectious diseases- These diseases are also called communicable diseases and get transferred from pathogens such as microorganisms. These diseases are transferred from a diseased person to a healthy person. For example- Cholera, chickenpox and malaria.
ii)Non-infectious diseases- These diseases are also called non-communicable diseases as they do not spread from one person to another. These diseases affect the other factors such as age, nutritional deficiency, gender and lifestyle of an individual.

Note:Diseases are caused by various pathogens. These pathogens are microorganisms which can be bacteria, virus and fungi. Depending on the duration of diseases, it can also be of two types- acute and chronic diseases. Acute diseases occur for a short duration whereas the chronic diseases occur for a long period of time.