Education Journalist | Study Abroad Lead
A common cold is a minor inconvenience encountered by most people at least once a year. It is more common during the winters. The symptoms of a common cold involve a runny or blocked nose, fever, cough, sore throat, and body ache. It can be well understood that due to the mucus in the nose, one loses their ability to smell but we have also seen that the person suffering from the common cold is unable to taste the food. This is because the perception of taste requires both our smell and taste perception. With a common cold as our sense of smell is impaired due to a blocked nose, we are not able to taste the flavor of the food.
| Table of Content |
Key Terms: Cold, Tongue, Nose, Taste of the food, microvilli, taste buds, taste receptors
How does our sense of taste work?
[Click Here for Sample Questions]
Among our 5 sense organs, tongue and nose influences the taste of our food. The tongue has many bumps on its surface known as Papillae. It contains the taste buds. Our taste buds can have a single taste receptor to about 50 to 150 receptor cells. Microscopic hairs are present on the taste buds known as microvilli.
The taste receptors are connected with the neurons that are responsible for carrying the taste of our food through one of the three cranial nerves - the vagus nerve, the facial nerves VII, and the glossopharyngeal nerve. This information then reaches the gustatory cortex in the frontal lobe region of our brain. Here, the brain works to decipher the taste of the food. These taste buds determine the taste of the food and then relay its information to the brain.
Our sense of taste also depends on our nose. Our nose has some olfactory receptors that contain specialised cells that are responsible for transmitting the information to the brain. The chemicals from the food are released as we chew the food, these chemicals then travel through the olfactory receptors to our brain. This function helps us understand and perceive the taste of the food. Hence, we can say that, when the function of the taste and nose combines, we can perceive the true taste of the food.
Read More: Why do we fall Ill?
How does cold influence taste?
[Click Here for Sample Questions]
The chemicals that are present in our food travels from the mouth to our nasal cavity. In the nasal cavity, our hair cells carry the information of the taste of the food to our brain. However, when a person suffers from a cold, their body produces excess mucus. This mucus then prevents the hair cells from transmitting the information to our brain. As a result of this, when we have a cold, the food tastes bland to us or is tasteless.
Things to Remember
- A cold is a common occurrence whose symptoms involve a runny or blocked nose, sore throat, fever, cough, and body ache.
- The taste of our food is influenced both by our tongue and our nose.
- The olfactory receptors present in our nose contains some specialised cells that are responsible for transmitting the information to the brain.
- When a person has a cold, their body produces excess mucus.
- The excess of mucus prevents the hair cells in the nose from transmitting the information to our brain.
- Therefore, the food appears to be tasteless or bland to us when we have a cold.
Sample Questions
Ques. Define health. (2 marks)
Ans. The definition of health is not limited to ‘physical fitness’ or ‘the absence of a disease’, rather it can be understood as a state of mental, social, and physical well being. A good health increases the longevity of life for people and it also reduces maternal and infant mortality. Personal hygiene, regular exercise, and following a balanced diet helps in maintaining good health of a person.
Ques. What are diseases? How are diseases classified? (3 marks)
Ans. A person is said to have a disease if the functioning of one or more of their body organs or systems are adversely affected that is further categorized through various signs and symptoms. Diseases can be classified as infectious and non-infectious diseases.
- Infectious diseases are the kind of diseases that can be transmitted from one person to the next. These kinds of diseases are very common. For eg, common cold, AIDS, etc.
- Non Infectious diseases are the kind of diseases that can not be transmitted from one person to another. For eg, cancer.
Ques. What is immunity? What are the two types of immunity? (3 marks)
Ans. Immunity refers to the ability of the body to defend itself against organisms that are known to cause diseases. Our body comes in contact with a lot of pathogens daily but only some of them causes diseases in our body, this is because of our immunity. The two types of immunity are:
- Innate Immunity
- Acquired Immunity
Ques. What is the difference between innate immunity and acquired immunity? (3 marks)
Ans. The differences between innate immunity and acquired immunity are:
| Innate Immunity | Acquired Immunity |
|---|---|
| The non specific general immunity is known as innate immunity, it is usually our first line of defence against the pathogens. | The acquired immunity is the immunity that we build up as we are exposed to diseases or as we get vaccinated. |
| It is usually our first line of defence. | It is our second line of defence against the pathogens. |
| Innate immunity can be inherited. | Acquired immunity can not be inherited. |
| This immunity is already present at birth. | This immunity is inherited over time. |
| It is present in both vertebrates and invertebrates. | Acquired immunity is exclusive to vertebrates. |
Ques. What are the four types of barriers in innate immunity? (5 marks)
Ans. Innate immunity provides certain barriers to the entry of pathogens or foreign agents in our body. The four types of barriers that innate immunity possess are:
- Physical barriers: Our skin acts as the main barrier that helps in preventing the entry of microorganisms in our body.
- Physiological barriers: Microbial growth in our body is prevented by the acid present in our stomach, saliva in our mouth, and the tears in our eyes.
- Cellular barriers: Certain white blood cells in our body such as monocytes, polymorpho-nuclear leukocytes, etc. can work to destroy the microbes.
- Cytokine barriers: Proteins known as interferons are secreted by the virus infected cells and it protects the non infected cells from developing viral infection.
Ques. Write a short note on AIDS. (3 marks)
Ans. AIDS stands for Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome. This refers to a deficiency of the immune system that is acquired during the lifetime of an individual which indicates it is not a a congenital disease. It is caused by Human Immuno deficiency Virus (HIV) that is a member of a group of viruses known as retrovirus. The transmission of HIV infection usually occurs through:
- Sexual contact with the infected person.
- Transmission of the contaminated blood and blood products.
- Sharing the infected needles as is in the case of intravenous drug abusers
- Placenta from the infected mother to her child.
Ques. What are the causes of cancer? (3 marks)
Ans. Normal cells may be transformed into cancerous cells through chemical, physical, or biological agents. The agents that causes cancer are referred to as carcinogens. DNA damage that causes neoplastic transformation is caused due to ionising radiations such as gamma rays and X-rays and non ionising radiations such as UV. Lung cancer is majorly caused by the chemical carcinogens that are present in
Ques. What are the symptoms of common cold? (3 marks)
Ans. Usually the symptoms of common cold appear 1 to 3 days after exposure to te virus that causes cold. Though the signs and symptoms of common cold vary from one person to another, some of the common symptoms are:
- A stuffy or runny nose
- Sore throat
- Congestion
- Cough
- Slight body aches
- A mild headache
- Sneezing
- Fever
- Loss of taste or smell
Ques. Write a short note on Typhoid? (3 marks)
Ans. Typhoid fever in human beings is caused by a pathogenic bacterium known as Salmonella typhi. These pathogens can enter the body through the small intestine in the form of water and food that is contaminated. From there it transfers and migrates to the other organs through the blood. Some of the common symptoms of the disease include constipation, stomach pain, weakness, a continous high fever (about 390 C to 400 C), and a loss of appetite. In some severe cases, the disease might also result in intestinal perforation and even death. Typhoid can spread through direct contact with the urine and faeces of the infected person.
The three vaccines recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the control of the typhoid disease include:
- Tyhphoid Conjugate Vaccine
- Unconjugated polysaccharide Vaccine
- Oral live attenuated Ty21a Vaccine
Read More:
Comments