• Question: how do you get diseases?

    Asked by anon-257812 to Vanessa, Summer, Sonia, Lucy, Lea on 8 Jul 2020.
    • Photo: Lea R'Bibo

      Lea R'Bibo answered on 8 Jul 2020:

      There are different types of diseases: some that are due to infections by external pathogens (bacteria, virus…); others are due to a person’s genetic information containing variants or mutations that lead to diseases or a mix of our genetics and environment.
      The first one has many examples you are probably familiar with, such as colds, flu, or the current pandemic. The second one, has very varied examples like Alzheimer’s disease, or cancer. I study some diseases of the second group, where people are born with variations or mutations in their DNA, and this leads to their environment affecting them differently than other people and triggering diseases after a while.

    • Photo: Lucy McGowan

      Lucy McGowan answered on 13 Jul 2020: last edited 13 Jul 2020 9:34 am

      There are lots of different ways you can get diseases. Some diseases are genetic, meaning that mistakes in the genetic code cause the cells in our bodies to misbehave and cause diseases. This is why some diseases are passed down through families. Other diseases are causes by things from our environment which are damaging to our DNA and our cells. For example, smoking or a poor diet can cause lots of diseases like cancer or heart disease. There are also infectious diseases. These are caused by germs entering the body and infecting our cells or tissues. These are things like viruses, bacterial infections, fungal infections or parasites like worms or malaria. Some infectious diseases can only last a short time, like having the common cold (caused by viruses). The immune system is quite good at removing these viruses from the body. Other infectious diseases can last much longer. If they are not treated, the germ can live in the body for a long time and cause a lot of damage. Fortunately, thanks to science, we have lots of medicines which can treat infectious diseases, like antibiotics, which kill bacteria, or de-worming tablets for getting rid of parasitic worms in the gut!

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