what r the principles of prevention and the principles of treatment
Answers
The immune system is a major factor that determines the number of microbes surviving in the body. There are two ways to treat an infectious disease, i.e.,
★ to reduce the effects of the disease
★ to kill the cause of the disease
In the first case, treatment reduces the symptoms which are due to inflammation. A doctor gives medicine to the patient so as to bring down fever, reduce pain or loose motions. One must also take bed rest so that he/she can conserve his/her energy. This will enable him/her to have more energy to focus on healing.
How do the Medicines Work?
To cure the disease, the microbes have to be killed by the use of medicine. As you know, we can classify microbes into different categories. They are viruses, bacteria, fungi or protozoa. Each of these groups of organisms will have some essential biochemical life processes, which is peculiar to that group and not shared with the other groups.
These processes may be pathways for the synthesis of new substances or respiration. For example, our cells may make new substance by a mechanism different from that used by bacteria. Therefore, the drug that can block the bacterial synthesis pathway without affecting our own, is used to cure a bacterial disease. The antibiotic drugs work on the same principle. Similarly, there are drugs that kill protozoa such as malarial parasite without affecting our body.
Viruses have only a few biochemical mechanisms of their own. This is the reason why making antiviral medicines is difficult than making antibacterial medicines. The viruses enter the host cells and use host’s machinery for their life processes. Therefore, there are relatively few virus drugs, which check a number of viral diseases including HIV infection.