Chapter 7: The search for better health (30 questions)


1. A healthy person is considered to function well physically, mentally and socially. The main condition that impairs healthy functioning is disease. A suitable working definition of disease is:
  Hint

    a) any scientific research that has shown the connection between lifestyle and health issues.
    b) the result of a fast paced of lifestyle, with sedentary occupations causing stress and general discomfort.
    c) a physical condition where a person may be unfit and unable to keep up with the exercise patterns of others.
    d) something that causes the absence of mental and social well-being.
    e) something that prevents proper physical functioning by interfering with the structure of organs, tissues or cells or by altering normal metabolism.




2. Genes and mitosis play roles in maintaining the health of an individual. Which of the following responses best describes the connection between these two components in maintaining health?
  Hint

    a) Genes need to be expressed efficiently to produce all the compounds necessary for healthy existence.
    b) Cells which are damaged through injury or disease are replaced by mitotic division of healthy cells. Such repair mechanisms are under genetic control.
    c) Once the genes that control mitosis go out of control, cell division continues to occur, forming tumours.
    d) Cell differentiation ensures that all the essential functions of the organism take place by allocating specific functions to specific cells and tissues.
    e) Mitosis ensures that there are enough cells to carry out the many complex functions of organisms that need to be completed.





3. During cell differentiation, genes are responsible for:
  Hint

    a) causing cells to become individually specialised for a particular disease.
    b) replacing cells which are damaged through injury or disease, by the mitotic division of healthy cells, creating new cells for survival.
    c) causing normal cell growth from which new cells are built.
    d) causing other genes to remain switched on for the functioning of the specialised cell. The other genes are switched off.
    e) controlling the synthesis (manufacture) of all the structural and functional compounds in living cells.






4. The two types of pathogens are:
  Hint

    a) infectious and non-infectious.
    b) endoparasites and ectoparasites.
    c) microorganisms and macroscopic parasites.
    d) physiological and immune.
    e) environmental and heritable




5. When discussing disease, it is important to understand certain common terms, such as ‘pathogen’. A suitable definition for this term would be which of the following
  Hint

    a) Pathogens are organisms that transmit disease.
    b) Pathogens are disease-causing parasites.
    c) The transmission of disease by direct contact.
    d) Pathogens are organisms on which the parasite lives.
    e) A disease that occurs as a result of indirect contact with an individual.




6. Safe drinking water is an essential component in reducing the opportunity for transmission of disease. There are a number of steps in the process of treating drinking water including:
  • coagulation and sedimentation
  • filtration
  • disinfection.
An appropriate description of the method involving coagulation is:
  Hint

    a) the addition of chemicals to the water supply, creating a floc, which settles to the bottom and so is removed.
    b) a process in which a specialised membrane is used to remove even very small particles such as viruses and protozoans such as Giardia.
    c) a method involving the use of a chemical to kill off pathogens
    d) steps taken to avoid primary contamination in the first place by protecting the source of the drinking water.
    e) a process used to screen out many pathogens that are subsequently destroyed.




7. Safe drinking water is an essential component in reducing the opportunity for transmission disease. There are a number of steps in the process of treating drinking water including:
  • coagulation and sedimentation
  • filtration
  • disinfection.
An appropriate description of the method involving disinfection is:
  Hint

    a) the addition of chemicals to the water supply, creating a floc, which settles to the bottom and so is removed.
    b) a process in which a specialised membrane is used to removing even very small particles such as viruses and protozoans such as Giardia.
    c) a method involving the use of a chemical such as chlorine to kill off pathogens
    d) steps taken to avoid primary contamination in the first place by protecting the source of the drinking water.
    d) a process used to screen out many pathogens that are subsequently destroyed.




8. The primary position from which Koch’s postulates are derived is the core idea that:
  Hint


    a) the pure culture, when injected into a healthy animal or patient, must cause the same disease.
    b) the microbe must be isolated from an infected host or patient. It must be grown in pure culture (containing no other types of microorganism).
    c) the microbe that is believed to cause the disease must always be present when the disease occurs.
    d) the same microbe must be recovered again from the newly infected animal or patient.
    e) none of the above.




9. In the diagram showing the life cycle of a virus shown:



The description of step 2 would be:
  Hint

    a) the assembly of new viruses using instructions from the viral nucleic acid.
    b) the lysis or bursting of the host cell.
    c) the assembly of protein coats via protein synthesis in the host cell’s cytoplasm.
    d) the virus injects nucleic acid into host cell; protein coat remains outside.
    e) the release of viruses which can then infect other cells.




10. In the diagram showing the life cycle of a virus shown:



The description of step 4 would be:
    Hint

    a) the assembly of new viruses using instructions from the viral nucleic acid.
    b) the lysis or bursting of the host cell.
    c) the assembly of protein coats via protein synthesis in the host cell’s cytoplasm.
    d) the virus injects nucleic acid into host cell; protein coat remains outside.
    e) the release of viruses which can then infect other cells.




11. Pathogenic bacteria have a disease-causing effect on their host because they multiply rapidly in blood and tissues and because they produce:
    Hint

    a) fever, coughing and lung congestion.
    b) nausea, fatigue, jaundice.
    c) diseases such as hepatitis B.
    d) diseases such as herpes simplex.
    e) chemicals such as toxins which are harmful to the host’s body.




12. Cholera is a bacterial disease very common in tropical countries. The pathogen is Vibrio cholera. The disease damages the intestinal system but does not enter the blood or tissues. The usual method of transmission is through:
    Hint

    a) direct contact during sexual intercourse or at birth.
    b) food or water that has been contaminated by infected faeces.
    c) air from sneezing and coughing.
    d) air-conditioning systems.
    e) direct or indirect contact.




13. Diseases caused by protozoans include:
    Hint

    a) amoebic dysentery, malaria and giardiasis.
    b) African sleeping sickness, pneumonia and diphtheria.
    c) cholera, pneumonia and diphtheria.
    d) amoebic dysentery, pneumonia and giardiasis.
    e) amoebic dysentery, malaria and thrush.




14. Thrush is a fungal disease that is common in babies and small children. It is also present as a vaginal infection in adult females. The disease is caused by an organism called:
     Hint

    a) Tinea pedis.
    b) Candida albicans.
    c) Plasmodium falciparum.
    d) Giardia lamblia.
    e) Entamoeba histolytica.




15. Control of amoebic dysentery relies on:
    Hint

    a) eradication of tsetse fly, and protection of humans against tsetse flies.
    b) regular sterilisation of air conditioning systems.
    c) isolation of patients, and immunisation (especially of children).
    d) eradication of flies that spread the disease, and maintaining hygiene in food handling.
    e) eradication of mosquitoes, and use of preventive drugs in humans.




16. An allergy is an immune response ‘gone wrong’. Antigens on the invading objects or organisms that cause an allergic response are called:
     Hint

    a) antibodies.
    b) dust mites.
    c) allergens.
    d) histamines.
    e) antihistamines.




17. Infection with the malarial parasite (Plasmodium) is the result of a bite from the female Anopheles mosquito that is carrying the parasite. There are several species of Plasmodium but only four affect humans and cause malaria. Although much has been done to address the treatment and control aspects of the disease, malaria is still a major problem in the world today, affecting 200–400 million people in a number of tropical countries. The main reason for this is:
     Hint

    a) the composition of the native microflora becomes unbalanced, affecting any treatment program.
    b) humans have no mechanism to prevent the disease from occurring.
    c) the countries in which the disease occurs have done little to maintain a clean water supply
    d) mutants of the malarial parasite arise that are resistant to frequently used drugs, and resistance to insecticides also occurs in mosquitoes.
    e) scientists still don’t understand the manner in which the disease is spread.




18. Strategies for the control of malaria will differ in different populations, including:
   Hint

    a) the use of drugs to destroy the malarial parasite or insecticides to destroy its vector, the mosquito.
    b) the destruction of the breeding places of mosquito larvae or the use of biological control to destroy mosquito populations.
    c) the development of vaccines to produce immunity against the parasite.
    d) genetic engineering of mosquitoes to develop individuals that will resist the parasite.
    e) one or more of the above.




19. Which type of quarantine procedure involves the enforced detention of living organisms at specially equipped quarantine stations on entering Australia?
    Hint

    a) Border control
    b) Animal and plant quarantine
    c) Human quarantine
    d) Border security
    e) Exclusion




20. The detectable signs and easily recognised visible effects on the host organism are also known as the:
  Hint

    a) transmission features.
    b) host response.
    c) immune response.
    d) symptoms.
    e) transmission.




21. Enzymes designed to break down foreign material are known as:
    Hint

    a) microflora.
    b) lysosomes.
    c) lysozymes.
    d) mucus.
    e) epizymes.




22. A type of defence response which results in either binding to the antigen and transporting it to the B-cells and T-cells or destroying the antigen and the pathogen immediately is part of:
     Hint

    a) specific defence.
    b) non-specific defence.
    c) antigenic response.
    d) immunisation.
    e) toxic response.




23. Types of leucocytes include:
    Hint

    a) basophils.
    b) eosinophils.
    c) phagocytes.
    d) lymphocytes.
    e) all of the above.




24. Engulfing and destroying pathogens, presenting a pathogen/antigen to a T-cell or B-cell site, and/or mopping up cell debris after the actions of T-cells and B-cells are all functions of:
    Hint

    a) chemokines.
    b) acquired immunity.
    c) inflammation.
    d) phagocytes.
    e) passive immunity.




25. The diagram below represents the:



    Hint

    a) specific immune response.
    b) acquired immune response.
    c) inflammatory response.
    d) complement system.
    e) passive immune response.




26. The role of the lymphatic system is to:
    Hint

    a) collect fluid from the extracellular spaces and return it to the blood
    b) recover a small number of proteins that have leaked from the capillaries.
    c) Answercontain lymphocytes and macrophages for defence against pathogens
    d) absorb lipids from the digestive system
    e) all of the above.




27. There are a number of T-lymphocytes in the body that are synthesised in the bone marrow and multiply and mature in the thymus gland. Which of the following choices best describes the role of helper T-cells?
    Hint

    a) Seal off pathogens travelling around the body.
    b) Attack and destroy infected cells or tumour cells.
    c) Trigger the production of large numbers of specific B-cells or cytotoxic T-cells.
    d) Produce histamine, which is important in inflammatory responses.
    e) Inactivate B-cells and cytotoxic T-cells after they have carried out the immune response.




28. The diagram represents part of a model showing the activation and suppression of T-cells and B-cells, and the role of marker molecules:



Models are used in science because:
    Hint

    a) they show us the actual way that a process occurs to make it easier for use to understand.
    b) they provide us with a simple representation of something so that we might understand how a complex process works.
    c) They provide us with a 3D representation of a process for simplicity.
    d) diagrams make it easier to see how something works in real life.
    e) none of the above.




29. Neutralisation, agglutination and precipitation and destruction by complement are all processes by which:
    Hint

    a) an antigen may be destroyed.
    b) a T-cell destroys an infected cell.
    c) T-helper cells complete their role.
    d) suppressor T-cells destroy antigens.
    e) interferons complete the task of destroying antigens.




30. A preparation containing dead or weakened pathogens or toxins that can no longer cause a disease but can act as antigens, stimulating an immune response and immunological memory is the basis for:
    Hint

    a) antibiotic treatments.
    b) fungal treatments.
    c) vaccination.
    d) treatment and control.
    e) none of the above.







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