8/10/2019 Human Body Diseases Vary in Both Severity and Diversity

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Human body diseases vary in both severity and diversity. Any body part or function cancontract a disease or have a disorder. We are more capable today than ever before ofcombating these diseases and medicine is advancing every day.

Below are articles on diseases and disorders:

Skin Disorders

The skin is susceptible to physical injury and to infection by bacteria, virus, fungi,and exposure to sunlight. Rashes can be caused by allergic reactions and some skindisorders are hereditary.

Nervous System Disorders

Damage to the nervous system through physical injury or disease can impair both physicaland mental function. The nervous system can be affected by infections, injury, tumors, anddegenerative conditions.

Cardiovascular Disorders

Common heart diseases include structural defects, damage due to restricted blood supply,heart muscle disorders and viral infections. What we eat and the amount of exercise we getcan affect our cardiovascular system.

Infections and Immune Disorders

Our bodies can be infected by bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa. Our immune systemswork to combat these viruses. Our immune systems can also develop disorders and thereare two types of immune system disorder; allergies and autoimmune diseases where the

immune system over reacts and immunodefficiency diseases where it underacts and is tooweak to cope with a threat.

Digestive Disorders

Problems with our digestive systems occur frequently mainly due to the food we consume.Viral infections and cancer can also affect our digestive systems.

8/10/2019 Human Body Diseases Vary in Both Severity and Diversity

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Your body and disease Human beings are robust and adaptable, able to survive in a wide range ofenvironments and to endure physical and psychological stress.

The body's design incorporates systems that renew and repair it continuously andothers that protect it from harm. Many trivial injuries or potential illnesses healthemselves or are controlled before we are even aware of them. However, throughout alifetime, we are exposed to a relentless stream of minor and more serious diseases andinjuries with a wide variety of effects on the body.

You become ill when something disrupts the normal healthy working of your body. Whyyou become ill is a question with multiple answers, many of which focus on your genes.Some rare diseases are caused by an inherited faulty gene, but genes are acontributing factor in many other illnesses. In particular, they predict to some extent yourchance of developing major diseases of adult life, such as cancer and stroke. Genesalso help to determine your susceptibility to many mental health problems. As well asgenes, your age, environment, and lifestyle are all factors affecting your risk of illness.

New drugs, immunizations, and advances in hygiene and public sanitation havereduced mortality from infectious diseases in the developed world, although suchdiseases remain a major threat in the developing world. Today, the major causes ofdeath in the UK are heart disease, cancer, stroke, and accidents. These are stronglyassociated with lifestyle, and the risk of each can be reduced by changes in behaviour.

As a result, the emphasis in medicine has changed: doctors now recognize thatprevention is as important as treatment.

Understanding the body

Understanding disease is easier if you already have some appreciation of the normalstructure and function of your body and the way in which its various components areorganized.

The body can be divided into a number of major systems that carry out vital functions.For example, the respiratory system enables you to breathe, and the immune systemprotects you from infection. The bones, muscles, nerves, skin, blood, and other tissues

that make up body systems are made of billions of connected cells. Each cell is aspecialized, fully functioning unit, and all of its activities are controlled by the geneticcode contained in the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in its nucleus.

In this section, diseases and disorders are mainly grouped in sections under the bodysystem that they affect. When you have a problem, you may be referred to a doctor whospecializes in disorders of that body system or organ. For example, you may see a

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prolonged use of certain drugs.

Injury covers all types of deliberate and accidental damage to the body. Every year inthe UK, there are about 15,000 fatal injuries; the major causes are traffic accidents,falls, fires, homicides, and drowning.

Your susceptibility to disease

Some contributory factors for illness, such as genes, ethnicity, and age are largelyunalterable. However, you can reduce your risk of ill health by following the guidelinesfor healthy living given in this guide (see Taking control of your health).

Many illnesses, such as psychological disorders, can occur at any age. However,particular age groups are vulnerable to certain problems. Babies are susceptible toinfections because their immune system is not fully developed, and young children tendto have frequent accidents while their physical skills are still developing.

People in their teens and in early adulthood are more likely to injure themselves. Forexample, most disability and death in young men is associated with risk-takingbehaviour involving vehicles and weapons. Adolescents are prone to eating disorders,depression, and substance abuse. Young people who eat unhealthily, take too littleexercise, smoke, and drink too much alcohol face a future risk of major diseases, suchas heart disease, cancer, and stroke, that are increasingly common from middle ageonwards. The incidence of long-term illness and disability increases with age and, forsome people, poor physical health leads to mental health problems.

Susceptibility to disease is closely linked to social factorssuch as poverty. For example,

in the UK, rates of heart disease are three times higher in poor families than in thosewith a reasonable standard of living.

Changing patterns of disease

During the past 50 years, many major infectious diseases have been brought undercontrol in the developed world, and smallpox, one of the oldest diseases of humanity,has been eradicated globally. However, AIDS, a deadly new disease caused by HIVinfection, is now a leading cause of death. In addition, tuberculosis (TB) has becomeharder to control, because some strains have become resistant to antibiotics and due toreduced immunity in HIV-infected people.

For most of the 20th century, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and stroke were majorcauses of death in the developed world. They are now also becoming common indeveloping societies due to factors associated with affluence, such as high-fat diet. Thehigh incidence of these diseases is also due in part to the increasing age of thepopulation. As the number of people over 65 is predicted to double by the year 2025,these diseases are likely to continue to be major global threats to health.

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How Doctissimo's health section is organised

Most of our health section is organized into major body systems. There are separatesections on infections, which can affect any body system, serious multi-system injuries,

and the principles of cancer. Disorders related to sex and reproduction and pregnancyand childbirth have their own sections, as do problems that exclusively affect children orproblems that have different effects in children.