NOTES (Chapter 3)
Health: Health is complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not just the
absence of disease (WHO).
Health Components: Involves physical fitness, positive mindset, and strong social
relationships.
→ Ayurveda’s View: Health is a balance of body, mind, and surroundings via
daily/seasonal routines, diet, and yoga.
Healthy Habits: Maintain hygiene, eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, get
enough sleep, and limit screen time
Unhealthy Habits: Avoid excessive screen time, junk food, late sleep, and skipping
meals.
→ Environmental Health: Clean surroundings and air (monitored by AQI) reduce
respiratory issues like asthma.
→ Symptoms vs. Signs: Symptoms are felt (e.g., pain); signs are measurable (e.g.,
fever, rash).
→ Communicable Diseases:
Caused by pathogens (bacteria, viruses, etc.) and spread via air, contact, food, or
vectors, e.g., Typhoid, dengue, flu, chickenpox, COVID-19.
→ Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs): Linked to lifestyle, diet, or environment;
e.g., diabetes, cancer, asthma.
→ Deficiency Diseases: caused by nutrient deficiencies, e.g., anaemia, scurvy,
goitre.
→ Disease Prevention: Hygiene, clean water, and sanitation (e.g., Odisha’s
campaign) reduce communicable diseases.
Antiviral medications
Health tracking devices
→ Vaccines: Train the immune system to prevent diseases like tetanus, polio,
hepatitis, and measles, not cure them.
→ Immunity: The body’s natural defense; it varies among individuals; vaccines
provide acquired immunity.
→ Antibiotics: Treat bacterial infections, not viral ones; overuse leads to resistant
bacteria.
→ Antibiotic Resistance: Makes infections harder to treat; prevented by proper
antibiotic use.
→ Traditional Medicine: Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani promote well-being but
may not treat all diseases.
→ Key Scientists: Kamal Ranadive (cancer research), Maharaj Kishan Bhan
(Rotavirus vaccine), Edward Jenner (smallpox vaccine), Alexander Fleming
(penicillin).
→ Health: A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely
the absence of disease (WHO).
→ Pathogen: A disease-causing organism, such as worms, bacteria, fungi, viruses
or protozoa.
→ Communicable Disease: A disease caused by pathogens that can spread from
one person to another (e.g., flu, dengue).
→ Non-Communicable Disease (NCD): A disease not caused by pathogens and
not transmissible, often linked to lifestyle or environment (e.g., diabetes, cancer).
→ Immunity: The body’s natural ability to resist and fight diseases through the
immune system.
→ Vaccine: A substance that trains the immune system to recognize and fight
specific pathogens, preventing diseases.
→ Acquired Immunity: Protection developed after exposure to a pathogen or
vaccine, enhancing immune response.
→ Antibiotic: A medicine that kills or inhibits bacteria, used to treat bacterial
infections but not viral ones.
→ Antibiotic Resistance: When bacteria survive and multiply despite antibiotic
treatment, reducing drug effectiveness.
→ Symptom: A subjective indication of illness felt by the patient, such as pain or
tiredness.
→ Hygiene: Practices like handwashing and cleanliness that prevent the spread of
diseases.
→ Lifestyle: Daily habits and behaviours (e.g., diet, exercise) that impact health
and disease risk.
→ Environment: Surroundings, including air and water quality, that affect health
(e.g., pollution causes respiratory issues).
→ Vector: An organism, like a mosquito, that transmits pathogens causing diseases
such as malaria or dengue.
→ Chronic Disease: A long-term condition (lasting over 3 months) like diabetes or
asthma, requiring ongoing management.
→ Sanitation: Measures like access to clean water and toilets that reduce disease
spread, as seen in community campaigns.
→ Health means complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not just the
absence of disease.
→ A disease affects the normal working of the body or mind.
→ Symptoms are what we feel (like pain or tiredness); signs are what can be seen
or measured (like fever or rash).
→ Non-communicable diseases like diabetes and heart disease are caused by
lifestyle and environmental factors, not germs. They can often be prevented with
healthy habits, lifestyle changes, and regular exercise.
→ Pathogens like bacteria, viruses, or worms cause infectious diseases.
→ Our immune system helps protect us from harmful pathogens.
→ Vaccines train the immune system using dead, weakened, or harmless parts of a
germ to prevent disease.
→ Diagnosis and treatment are important for managing and curing diseases.
A healthy person can perform various tasks more efficiently and cope well in
different and difficult situations. A healthy person can adjust well with peer groups
and other members of society. Let us understand more about health.
How Can We Stay Healthy?
Keep yourself clean and maintain personal hygiene.
Eat a healthy and balanced diet.
Exercise regularly.
Make time to relax or meditate every day.
Now, think about habits that are not good for your health. Add more to the list
below:
Spending too much time on mobile phones or other digital screens.
Eating fast food and other junk food every day.
Sleeping very late or not getting enough sleep.
Skipping meals, especially breakfast.
Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle
Eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Avoid
processed, fatty, or sugary food and drinks. Stay physically active by playing.
Diseases: What Are the Causes and Types?
Some diseases last for a short time, while others can continue for a long time and
need regular treatment or care. Diseases can be grouped into two major types based
on their causes and how they spread:
Non-communicable diseases: Some diseases, like cancer, diabetes, or asthma,
are not caused by pathogens and do not spread from one person to another.
They are usually linked to lifestyle, diet, and/or environment.
Communicable diseases: Diseases caused by pathogens are called
communicable diseases. They can spread from one person to another. Some
examples of communicable diseases are typhoid, dengue, flu, chickenpox,
and COVID-19.
Dr. Kamal Ranadive (1917–2001) was a pioneering biomedical researcher. She
studied how hormones and certain viruses are linked to cancer, helping improve its
treatment and prevention. Her work also showed how tobacco, diet, and pollution
can raise the risk of cancer, highlighting the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
Discovery of the first antibiotic, Penicillin
Penicillin was discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, a bacteriologist from
London. While studying harmful bacteria, he noticed that a mould on a discarded
petri dish stopped the bacteria from growing. He realized the mould released a
substance that killed the bacteria. This chance discovery led to the discovery of
penicillin, the first antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections.
