ScenarioYou are doctor and have been asked to provide information about a Essay

ScenarioYou are doctor and have been asked to provide information about a variety of diseases and infections for the makers of a new TV show that is set in a hospital.Task 1Create a project that would explain to a non-scientist how diseases and infections are classified into groups. Within your project you need to include detailed examples of diseases and infections from each category.Your project should be presented as a booklet and must contain a contents page to help the reader find a specific disease with ease.

Within the booklet you must:Describe a variety of different diseases and infections in detail.Describe how diseases and infections are classified into groups.Explain the differences between each group using examples of different diseases and infections.Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of classifying diseases and infections.Assess how helpful classification of diseases and infections is within the medical profession.You may also like to add into your work plot suggestions based on the causes of the diseases and infections that you have described.

___________________________________________________________________Assignment work starts here:Front cover:Diseases and Infections:Contents Page:Introduction into diseases and infections. – Page 3-4Infectious Diseases. – Page 4-5Environmental Diseases. – Page 6-8Degenerative Diseases. – Page 8-10 Classification of diseases. -Page 10-11-Page 3-Introduction (explain the main types of disease)What is a disease?A disorder that produces specific symptoms oraffects a specific area that is not a result ofphysical injury.What are the main types of disease?There are three main types of disease:Infectious – A disease that can be passed on from one person to another.Environmental – A medical condition within a person due to the environmentDegenerative – A medical condition that comes about when a person is older or their body is not as it should be.Overview of each disease:Infectious: Infectious diseases are diseases caused by organisms such as bacteria and fungi. We live with organisms on a day to day basis and most of them are not harmful or sometimes are helpful towards us. However some organisms are harmful towards us.Some infectious diseases are passed on through person to person. Some diseases are obtained by receiving bites from insects or animals that carry the disease with them. Diseases such as chickenpox can now be countered through the use of vaccines although regular cleaning of the body and frequently washing your hands protects you from most of the diseases.Environmental: Environmental diseases are diseases caused by things in the environment such as pesticides, chemicals and radiation. Potential hazardous things in the environment are everywhere from home to work to the playground. However the chance of somebody getting a disease from areas like this all depend on the hazard that is present there. For example miners are more likely to to develop forms of lung disease due to inhaling dust. Another example is in third world countries where people have to go through dirty water to find items of value which makes them prone to the disease in the polluted water. Safety equipment used properly can prevent environmental diseases.-Page 4-Degenerative: A degenerative disease is medical condition that makes your body deteriorate over time. Most degenerative diseases are linked by and caused by aging, most of which get worse the older you are.Degenerative diseases are classed into three main types: cardiovascular, neoplastic and nervous system. The most common cardiovascular diseases are coronary disease and hypertension.Neoplastic diseases contain things such as tumours and cancer.Diseases that are linked to the nervous system are most commonly Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.Degenerative diseases are caused by a lot of different things, for example it could be that your body has a degenerative disease due to it being old and tired. However you can also get degenerative diseases by poor health and an unhealthy lifestyle. The differences between all of these types of diseases is that infectious diseases are caused by natural things such as bacteria. Whereas environmental diseases are caused by mainly man made things in the environment like chemicals and pesticides. Degenerative diseases are caused overtime and is part of people’s lives as they age.Infectious Diseases: (Describe 2)Infectious disease are diseases that can be passed on from one person to another. There are different types of infectious diseases:Protozoal – Diseases that are caused by parasites which are classified in the animal kingdom.Arthropod – Diseases caused by arthropods such as insects and crustaceans.Bacterial – Bacterial diseases are simply caused by bacteria that are classified in the kingdom Monera.Viral – Viral diseases are diseases caused by viruses. They are not classified into any kingdom as they do not fit into any of them.One infectious disease is Cholera.Cholera is an infection that can cause severe diarrhoea. You are at risk of Cholera when travelling around some parts of the world.Cholera Symptoms:Cholera is likely to be caught if you are:Drinking unclean water.Eating food (especially shellfish) that has been in unclean water and has not been cleaned thoroughly.-Page 5-Eating food that has been touched and handled by someone with the infection.Cholera is mainly found in places of the world that do not have a clean water supply or a modern drainage/sewage system. Some areas include parts of Africa and Asia.One way to avoid Cholera if you ARE in an area with no clean water supply is to only drink boiled water or bottled water. If you are at risk of Cholera there are vaccines available to counter it.Another infectious diseases is Tuberculosis or mainly known as TBTB is a bacterial infection spread through inhaling the tiny droplets of a cough or sneeze from an infected person (someone with the TB infection).TB mainly attacks the lungs however it can affect any part of your body including the bones and nervous system. It is a serious condition but with the right antibiotics can be treated and cured.TB Symptoms:Weight LossFeverFatigueLoss of appetiteA persistent cough that lasts more than three weeks and usually has phlegm which may be bloody.TB that affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) is the most contagious type. In the most healthiest of people the body’s natural immune system kills the bacteria leading to no symptoms.Sometimes the immune system cannot kill the bacteria but manages to prevent it to spreading in the body. Having no symptoms but having the bacteria in your body is known as latent TB. People with latent TB are not infectious to others.If the immune system cannot kill the bacteria or prevent it from spreading to the rest of the body it will spread to your lungs and other parts of your body in weeks and you will have the symptoms along with it. This is known as active TB.With treatment TB can almost always be cured however a full course of antibiotics will usually need a full six months.-Page 6-Environmental Diseases: (Describe 2)An environmental disease is a medical condition that is caused by or linked to something in the environment.They can be categorised into different areas:Nutritional Deficiency.Chronic Dietary disease.Disease caused by pollution or poisoning from chemicals.Cancers.People that have a poor diet for a long period of time are most likely to develop a Chronic Dietary disease such as Obesity.Obesity:Someone is referred to as obese if they have a lot of body fat or are significantly overweight – a common problem in the UK estimated to affect 1 in 4 adults.There are many different ways to measure a person’s weight to their health but the most commonly used one is the BMI (Body Mass Index) – BMI measures whether your weight is healthy with your height.What are the risks of Obesity?:It is important to try and reverse obesity not only due to the physical aspect and how it is harder for people with obesity to do day to day activities but also due to the fact that it can lead to many life threatening conditions:Type 2 DiabetesCoronary Heart DiseaseCancers such as Breast Cancer and Bowel CancerStrokeObesity can also lead to psychological problems and how you view yourself to others leading to things such as depression and low self esteem.-Page 7-Causes of Obesity:Obesity is caused by eating too many high calorie foods especially fatty and sugary foods and drinks. In addition to this to doing any physical activities/exercise means you do not burn off the the energy. This excess energy is stored in the body as fat.Treating Obesity:The main way to tackle Obesity is from eating healthier foods in a balanced diet, cutting down on the higher calorie foods and to exercise daily.Some ways to help you do this are as follows:Eating a calorie controlled diet suggested by your GP or professional dietitian.Joining a weight loss group.Starting up physical activities from walking to swimming to tennis to jogging. (These should be done at least 2 hours a week).Do not indulge in events where you know you may be more likely to overeat.If the lifestyle changes alone do not help with your weight loss issue the medication Orlistat may be recommended to you. If it works correctly the medication reduces the amount of fat you take in while digestion.There are many different environmental factors that lead to cancer, this is on Lung Cancer:Lung Cancer:Lung Cancer is one of the most common and serious types of cancer. Around 44,500 people in the UK are diagnosed with Lung Cancer every year.There are no early signs or symptoms of lung cancer, however as the condition develops into later stages the following are what may come about:A persistent coughCoughing up bloodPersistent breathlessnessUnnatural tiredness and weight lossWhat is the main cause for Lung Cancer?:Smoking:Smoking is the single biggest factor in causing lung cancer (85% of all cases).The tobacco inside the cigarette contains at least 60 toxic substances which, one way or another will lead to lung cancer. The substances are known as carcinogenic (cancer producing)-Page 8-Other types of tobacco products also increase your risk of lung cancer as well as other cancers such as mouth cancer. These products include Cigars, Chewing tobacco and Pipe Tobacco.Passive Smoking:If you do not smoke but are regularly around other people’s smoke and you are inhaling it, you are more likely to develop lung cancer than a non passive smoker.Research suggests that non smoking women that share a house with a smoking partner are more likely to get lung cancer than women that live in a non smoking household by 25%.Degenerative Diseases: (Describe 2)Degenerative diseases are medical conditions that occur once your body gets older no longer functions in the way it should.Alzheimer’s disease:Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of Dementia in the UK.Dementia is a group of related symptoms that occurs once the brain does not function as it used to. It affects memory, thinking skills and other mental abilities.The precise cause of Alzheimer’s disease is not fully discovered yet, however there are a many number of things that increase your risk of it developing:Increase of AgeIf your family has a history of the diseaseUntreated depression – depression may also be one of the symptoms of the diseaseSigns and symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease:Alzheimer’s is a conditions that its symptoms progress and develop over many years until finally they become severe. affecting multiple brain functions.-Page 9-The first and main sign of Alzheimer’s is minor memory loss. However as the condition develops and becomes more severe, the memory loss becomes more severe as well as other symptoms appearing such as:Confusion and getting lost in places that should be known to the personDifficulty making decisionsProblems with speechProblems moving around without assistancePersonality changes, more aggressive and suspiciousnessHallucinationsAnxiety + low moodWho gets Alzheimer’s Disease?:Alzheimer’s is most common in people aged over 65. An estimated in 1 in 14 people over the age of 65 will be at risk of Alzheimer’s and 1 in every 6 people over the age of 80.However 1 in every 20 cases of the disease affects people from age 40-65. This is known as early Alzheimer’s diseaseTreatment of Alzheimer’s disease:There are no current cures for Alzheimer’s disease. However there are some medications used to relieve the patient of some of the symptoms.Other types of support are there to help people with the condition live as independently as possible such as making changes to their home making accessibility to do daily tasks much easier.Osteoporosis:Osteoporosis is a condition that weakens bones, makes them fragile and more likely to break. With it being a degenerative disease it develops slowly over many years. It will be diagnosed to a person if a minor fall or impact were to cause breaking in the person’s bones.The most common injuries associated with Osteoporosis are:Wrist fracturesHip fracturesSpinal bone fracturesWho gets Osteoporosis?:Osteoporosis affects over 3 million people in the UK.More than 500,000 people have to be hospitalised for fractures every year due to Osteoporosis.-Page 10-Causes of Osteoporosis:Some people lost bone density at a rapid rate compared to others. This can lead to Osteoporosis.Women also lose bone rapidly in the first few years after their menopause, meaning women are more at risk of Osteoporosis than men especially with an early menopause. (Before the age of 45)Many other factors lead to an increasing risk of Osteoporosis:Other medical conditions such as hormone related conditions and inflammatory conditionsFamily history of osteoporosis – especially a hip fracture in a parentLong term use of medicines that affect bone strength and or hormone levelsHaving a low BMI (Body Mass Index)Heaving drinking and smokingHow do you treat Osteoporosis?:To treat Osteoporosis the main thing to do is is prevent fractures and using medication to strengthen bones.Deciding whether you need treatment or not is entirely based on your risk of fractures. This is based on your age, sex and DEXA scan results.To keep bones healthy one should:Keep up with regular exerciseHealthy eating – especially food rich in Calcium and Vitamin DMaking lifestyle changes – Giving up smoking and reducing alcohol intakeClassification of diseases (Assess the basis for classification of disease)In my opinion I believe that classifying diseases is an important thing to do, with the classification system being extremely important.This is because I believe that it would helpful towards people who are in the industry of working with these classified diseases on a day to day basis such as Doctors. However it can also help people that do not work in the medical industry understand more about the different diseases.-Page 11-The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is very important because it allows people from all over the world to report and monitor diseases. Furthermore allowing people worldwide to compare their data with one another in one solid way rather than having multiple complicated ways. It is accessible from local hospitals to different countries entirely in real time.However there are disadvantages with the ICD such as:The classification would not be helpful with cases where there are no patient information – could lead to a wrongful diagnosis of patientsHaving said this there would be devastating results if a patient were to be given medication for a disease they do not have.With there being a huge variety in the different diseases we have across our world, having access to the ICD is so important for various scientists and doctors worldwide. From the deadly infectious disease of Ebola having had an outbreak many doctors and scientists would not have had the amount of knowledge needed to know how to tackle the deadly infection. In addition to how to prevent it from spreading further.Therefore we can see that having tools such as the ICD classifying diseases so that not only people in the medical industry but also the public will be able to know about the different diseases and whether or not they should take action.Without the ICD it would be very difficult for people to share their research on a disease with another person working on the same disease on the other side of the world from them. It’d also be very unfortunate that without the ICD many people may mistake one disease with another disease leading to much dangerous decisions taking place for example in a hospital if a patient was given medication for a different disease entirely.So in conclusion having tools such as the ICD allow people all over the world to be able to work in their medical industry with full access to know about the different types of disease as well as helping the public know what the different diseases are and what can be done to prevent them from catching them.Hassan Vakil.