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Disease prevention involves population-based and individual-based primary and secondary (early detection) measures to reduce disease burden and risk factors. Primary prevention prevents disease onset.
- Primary prevention may include actions to improve health through changing the impact of social and economic determinants on health.
- The provision of information on behavioural and medical health risks, alongside consultation and measures to decrease them at the personal and community level; nutritional and food supplementation; oral and dental hygiene education, and clinical preventive services such as immunisation and vaccination of children, adults and the elderly, as well as vaccination or post-exposure prophylaxis for people exposed to a communicable disease.
Also read: Why Do We Fall Ill
| Table of Content |
Key Terms: Health, Diseases, Principles of Treatment, Prevention of Diseases, Human Diseases, WHO
What is Health?
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In 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) provided the following definition of health: "Health is not only the absence of disease or weakness; it is a state of total bodily, mental, and social well-being." The WHO definition of health recognises health's physical, mental, and social elements. In 1978, a new element was added to this definition. It is the capacity to live "a socially and economically fruitful life."
The adage "Health is Wealth" is apt. Numerous things affect health. These elements exist both within the individual and the culture in which he or she resides. Internal variables are an individual's genetic makeup, whereas external factors are the environment to which he or she is exposed.
Aspects of Good Health
Factors to Help Maintain Community Health
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Personal health is being physically, mentally, and socially fit. Community health involves preserving, enhancing, and safeguarding the entire community's health. The following elements contribute to the maintenance of community health:
- Maintaining the environment's hygienic and sanitary conditions.
- Providing good socio-economic conditions.
- Offering medical care services.
- Providing health education and fostering public consciousness.
- Providing suitable facilities for disease prevention.
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| Relevant Concepts | ||
|---|---|---|
| TB (Tuberculosis) | Measles | Rabies |
| Kidney Infection | Urine Infection | Stomach Ulcer |
| Jaundice Symptoms | Rickets | Smallpox |
Basic Conditions for Good Health
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The proverb "a sound mind in a sound body" emphasises the significance of good health. There are a few guidelines you must adhere to to maintain healthy health. These consist of the following:
- Maintain a healthy diet
- Maintain personal hygiene
- Keep your environment clean
- Consume only pure foods and liquids
- Maintain a clean atmosphere and air
- Maintain a regular routine of exercise and rest
- Avoid all kinds of addictions, including alcohol and drugs.
Principles of Treatment
The immune system is a primary determinant of the number of microorganisms that survive within the body. There are two treatment options for infectious diseases, namely,
To lessen the consequences of the sickness, it is necessary to eliminate its cause.
In the first instance, therapy alleviates the symptoms caused by inflammation. A physician administers medication to a patient to relieve fever, discomfort, or diarrhoea. Additionally, one must rest in bed in order to conserve energy. This will allow him or her to devote more energy to healing.
How Do Medicines Work?
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To cure the condition, the microorganisms must be eradicated with medication. As you know, microorganisms can be classified into various groups. It consists of viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa.
- Each of these creatures possess unique biochemical life processes that the other groups do not share.
- These processes may involve the creation of new chemicals or respiration. For instance, our cells may produce new substances via a different process than bacteria.
- Medicine that can inhibit the bacterial production process without damaging our own is employed to treat a bacterial ailment.
- Antibiotic medications operate on the same basis. Similarly, some medications destroy protozoa, such as the malaria parasite, without affecting the human body.
- Only a few biochemical pathways are unique to viruses. This is why antiviral drug production is more challenging than antibacterial drug production.
- The viruses penetrate the host's cells and utilise the host's mechanism for their survival. Consequently, there are relatively few antiviral medications that treat a variety of viral infections, including HIV infection.
Prevention of Diseases
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There are two methods of infectious illness prevention:
- General Methods
- Specific Methods
General Methods
General strategies for preventing infectious diseases:
- Immunisation against infectious illnesses.
- Sanitation is one of the fundamental keys to preventing infectious (communicable) diseases.
- Infections transmitted by vectors can be avoided by maintaining clean conditions and eradicating vectors. The breeding grounds of vectors should be eradicated, and adult vectors should be eliminated using suitable means.
- Sterilisation: The environment and items used by patients must be sterilised. Soap, phenyl, Dettol, and antiseptic lotion may be utilised as required.
- Isolation: A person with an infectious disease should be isolated so that others do not contract the disease from him.
- Education: Individuals should be informed about infectious diseases to protect themselves from them.
- Proper (nutritious) and adequate food: The availability of adequate (nutritious) and proper (nutritious) food to all would keep people healthy and resistant to infection.
Specific Methods
Specific methods for preventing infectious diseases:
Specific methods for preventing infectious diseases are related to a peculiar characteristic of the immune system, which often fights microbial infections. This is the foundation of the immunisation idea.
Prevention of Diseases
Things to Remember
- Prevention is better than cure.
- Health is not only the absence of disease or weakness; it's a state of total mental, physical, and social well-being.
- Community health is a medical speciality that focuses on the physical and mental health of a geographic region's residents.
- A vaccine is a biological preparation that protects against a specific infectious or cancerous disease.
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Sample Questions
Ques. What do you mean by a vaccine? (2 Marks)
Ans: A vaccination prepares infectious pathogens or their products after they have been weakened. It is administered either intravenously or orally for the purpose of illness prevention in particular.
Ques. State any two conditions essential for good health. (4 Marks)
Ans: Not only the absence of disease or disability, but health is also a condition of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. This means that excellent health encompasses a person's emotional, social, and physical well-being and the absence of disease or injury.
Now, what are the necessary circumstances for healthy health?
Numerous elements are necessary for optimum health, including a balanced diet, exercise, social and economic well-being, a stress-free lifestyle, and an improved environment.
We will discuss adequate nutrition, a balanced diet, and social and physical health.
- First, we'll discuss a balanced diet. A balanced diet has all the necessary components for optimum health in the appropriate quantities. Dietary requirements for calories, proteins, minerals, and vitamins necessitate a balanced diet containing all foods in specific numbers and ratios.
- Second, we will discuss social and physical well-being. Social well-being refers to the ability of individuals to live peacefully in communities with chances for growth, whereas physical well-being refers to the capacity to engage in physical activities without experiencing bodily discomfort or harm.
Ques. What are the conditions that are important for individual health? (3 Marks)
Ans: A state of physical, mental, and social well-being is denoted by health. For a person to be healthy, several conditions must be met. Several of these are detailed below:
- A person's health is dependent on the environment in which he or she resides. The physical environment is referred to as the surroundings or our environment.
- Human beings are social creatures. As such, an individual's well-being is highly dependent on the society to which he or she belongs.
- Individual health is impacted by public cleanliness as well.
- Good economic conditions are directly tied to the availability of nutritious food, clean water, and other vital health-related elements.
Ques. Which of the following aspects can be controlled by an individual to determine the effect on health? (1 Mark)
Ans: A person's lifestyle can be altered to avoid an unhealthy scenario. Environment and biological factors, however, cannot be regulated.
Ques. Which of the following is not a common health problem in India? (3 Marks)
Ans: India is a large nation. Its geographical and climatic circumstances are quite diverse. There are numerous health issues prevalent in India. However, the following generalisations may be made:
- A) Food and water-borne diseases
- B) Insect and airborne diseases.
- C) Lack of medical facilities
- D) Professional hazards
Ques. What is the significance of health? (4 Marks)
Ans: A complete physical, mental, and social well-being is called health.
For a healthy life cycle, a person must consume a balanced diet, engage in physical activity, reside in an appropriate environment, get sufficient rest, and practise excellent cleanliness.
1) The health of all organisms is contingent upon their surroundings. Our social environment has a significant impact on our health.
2) Public cleanliness is important for individual health (the likelihood of poor health increases if no agency ensures that garbage is collected and disposed of, if no one is responsible for clearing the drains if garbage and discarded items are strewn about, and if there is stagnant water in open drains).
3) We need food for our health and the ability to work and make a living. For this, labour opportunities must be accessible. Therefore, good economic conditions and employment are necessary for individual health.
4) To be fully healthy, we must be joyful. We cannot be healthy or happy if we mistreat and are terrified of one another. The importance of social equality and harmony to an individual's health cannot be overstated.
Ques. What are the basic principles of preventing an infectious disease? (2 Marks)
Ans: There are two fundamental approaches to avoiding disease:
- Preventing exposure to microorganisms is the primary method for avoiding infectious diseases. Depending on the type of microorganisms, there are multiple methods for preventing exposure.
- Immunisation is a particular method for preventing disease. Several preventative vaccinations have been produced. Eg: MMR, polio, tetanus.
Ques. Prevention of a disease is more desirable than its treatment'. Justify this statement. (3 Marks)
Ans: This strategy has three drawbacks when combating infectious diseases.
- First, once a person is diagnosed with an illness, their biological functions may never fully recover.
- The second is that therapy will take time, which implies that a patient will likely be immobile for some time, even if we can provide sufficient care.
- The third reason is that a person with an infectious condition can serve as the source from which the disease can spread to others. This causes the aforementioned problems to multiply. For such reasons, disease prevention is preferable to disease treatment.
Ques. What precautions will you take to justify prevention is better than cure? (2 Marks)
Ans: The precautions required to demonstrate that prevention is preferable to treatment are:
(1) Maintaining a hygienic environment.
(2) Knowledge of the ailment and causative agent.
(3) Healthy diet
(4) Routine medical examinations
Ques. What can be achieved/can be prevented? Drinking boiled and filtered water. (2 Marks)
Ans: Boiling and filtration are methods for purifying water to make it consumable. Consuming water that has been boiled and filtered can aid in the prevention of water-borne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, etc. Most water-borne diseases are spread through the ingestion of contaminated water in one form or another.
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