Why Do we Fall ill

Facts that Matter

Introduction
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being.
Basic conditions for good health:
 Proper balanced and nutritious diet.
 Personal hygiene.
 Clean environment and surroundings.
 Healthy air, no pollution in the surrounding.
 Regular exercise.
 Proper rest.
 Good standard of living and economic status.
Disease: when the body is not at ease i.e., uncomfortable then it is said to have
a disease.
When there is a disease, the functioning or appearance of one or more systems
of the body changes.
Depending on the duration—disease is classified as acute or chronic.
Acute disease: Diseases that last for only short period of time, e.g., headache,
common cold etc.
Chronic disease: Diseases that last for long time,’ are called chronic diseases,
e.g., elephantiasis, tuberculosis, etc.
Causes of diseases: Immediate cause and contributory cause.
Immediate cause: The organisms that enter our body and causes disease is
called immediate cause. For example, virus, bacteria, protozoa etc.
Contributory cause: The secondary factors which led these organisms enter
our body are called as contributory cause. For example, dirty water, unclear
surroundings, contaminated food, improper nourishment, poverty,
poor standard of living etc.
Diseases may be due to infectious and non-infectious causes.
(a) Infectious causes: Diseases where microbes are the immediate causes are
called infections diseases. The infection spreads from one person to another.
(b) Non-infectious causes: Some diseases that do not spread in the community,
but remains internal are called non-infectious diseases. Example, cancer,
genetic abnormalities, high blood pressure etc.
Infectious diseases (Communicable diseases): When a disease causing
organism enters our body it causes infection, it multiplies and grows in the
body called host and micro-organisms multiplies in the host body.

Infectious diseases spread through:

 Air: Causes air-borne diseases due to bacteria, virus e.g., common cold,
influenza, measles, tuberculosis.
 Food and water: Is caused due to contaminated food and water that
contains bacteria, virus, worm etc. Example, cholera, typhoid and
hepatitis.
 Contact: Many diseases spread by contact of infected person with the
healthy person. Examples, fungal infection, scabies etc.
AIDS and syphilis spread due to sexual contact.
 Body fluids: Body fluids like blood, semen, mother milk when infected
can also cause disease. Example, AIDS.
Antibiotics: These are the chemicals (medicine, drugs) that block biochemical
pathways important for bacteria. They are used for diseases caused by
bacteria.
Inflammation: When an active immune system release many cells to the
affected tissue to heat-off the disease-causing microbes it is called
inflammation. Local effects caused on body due to inflammation are—swelling,
pain, fever and redness.
Principles of treatment
 To reduce the effects of the diseases.
 To kill the cause of the disease i.e., to kill the microbes like bacteria fungi,
protozoa.
Principles of Prevention
 General method
 Specific method
General ways of preventing infections relate to preventing exposure.
Prevention of exposure can be done in following ways:
 For air borne infections—valid -visiting public place, cover your nose and
mouth while coughing.
 for water borne infections- Drink clean and boiled water.
 For vector borne infections Keep the surroundings clean, do not keep
any puddle of water open in the surrounding as it allows the breeding of
mosquitoes.
 Self immune system that can fight off and kill microbes when it enters
our body.
 Availability of proper and sufficient -food for everyone.
Specific ways: 1% (giving vaccines, a childhood immunisation that its given to
the children for (preventing infectious diseases)

Question 1. State any two conditions for good health

Answer: Two conditions essential for good health are:
1. State of physical, mental and social well-being.
2. Better surroundings or -environment.
Question 2. State any two conditions essential for being free of disease.
Answer. The two conditions essential for being free of disease are:
1. Personal and -domestic .hygiene.
2. Clean environment and surroundings
Question 3. Are the answers to the above questions necessarily the same or
different ? Why ?
Answer: The answer to the above questions are different because a person
may be free of disease but his mental, social or economical health may not be
good

Class 9 Science NCERT Textbook – Page 180

Question 1. List any three reasons why you would think that you are sick and
ought to see a doctor. If only one of these symptoms were present, would
you still go to the doctor? Why or why not?
Answer: The 3 reasons why one would think that he is sick are—(1) headache,
(2) cold and cough, (3) loose-motions.
This indicates that there may be a disease but does not indicate what the
disease is. So one would still visit the doctor for the treatment and to know the
cause of above symptom.
Even in case of single symptom one needs to go to the doctor to get proper
treatment.
Question 2. In which of the following case do you think the long-term effects
on your health are likely to be most unpleasant?
 If you get jaundice
 If you get lice
 If you get acne.
 Why.
Answer: In the above cases, lice and acne are acute problems of our
health which can be cured in short duration. But jaundice is the disease
that can have most unpleasant effect on our health as it affects the most
important organ of our body i.e., liver. This disease is a chronic one.
  Question 1. Why are we normally advised to take bland and nourishing
food when we are sick?
Answer: We are advised to take bland and nourishing food when we are
sick because our body needs energy to release cells to overcome the
infection, the wear and tear of body organ. The nourishing food provides
nutrients to our body that will further provide energy and make new
cells. No spices in the food makes its digestion process faster, does not
release acids in the body that can interfere in the treatment and cure

Question 2. What are the different means by which infectious diseases are
spread?
Answer: The different means by which infectious diseases spread are:
(a) Through air: They are also called air-borne diseases. The air carries bacteria,
virus and the diseases that can be caused are: common cold, influenza,
tuberculosis etc.
(b) Through food and water: When one eats/drinks contaminated food/water,
that contains bacteria, virus, worm etc. it can cause diseases like cholera
typhoid, hepatitis.
(c) Through contact: Many diseases spread by contact of infected person with
the healthy person. Example, fungal infections, skin diseases, scabies etc.
(d) By sexual contact: Many diseases can be transmitted, example, syphilis,
AIDS.
(e) By body fluids: Fluids like blood, semen, mother’s milk, when infected,
can also cause diseases. Example, AIDS.
(f) Vectors: The organism that spreads a disease by carrying pathogens from
one place to another is called vector. Example, mosquitoes are vectors that
carry pathogens like protozoa.
Question 3. What precautions can you take in your school to reduce the
incidence of infectious diseases?
Answer: The precautions that one can take in school to reduce the incidence of
infectious diseases are
(a) By using handkerchief while coughing and sneezing.
(b) Washing hands before eating tiffins.
(c) Staying at home if anyone suffers from infectious diseases.
(d) Getting vaccinated before the infection affects.
(e) Keeping the school surroundings clean, checking for stagnant water.
Question 4. What is immunisation?
Answer: When the body attains immunity against any disease, due to
vaccination. This process is called immunisation.
Question 5. What are the immunisation programmes available at the nearest
health centre in your locality? Which of these diseases are the major health
problems in your area?
Answer: The immunization programmes available at the nearest health care
centres are:
1. Child immunization programme starts from 0 to 12 years.
2. Polio eradication programme
3. H1N1 screening programme

Age Immunisation

Infant Polio, B.C.G

6 weeks—9 weeks D.P.T, tetanus
9-12 months booster doses, chickenpox, hepatitis A, B etc.

Question 1. How many times did you fall ill in the last one year? What were
the illnesses?
(a) Think of one change you could make in your habits in order to avoid any
of/ most of the above illnesses.
(b) Think of one change you would wish for in your surroundings in order to
avoid any of/most of the above illness.
Answer: The illness was 2-3 times, common-cold, occurred in a year.
(a) One change I would make in my habits in order to avoid the above illness is
that I would take proper diet rich in vitamin C and would avoid too cold food.
(b) The surroundings should be neat, and clean,
Question 2. A doctor/nurse/health worker is exposed to more sick people
than others in the community. Find out how she/he avoids getting sick
herself/himself?
Answer: A doctor/nurse/health worker when exposed to sick people they keep
their nose and mouth covered, take care of hygiene, wash hands with soap
before drinking water or eating food. They use mask, gloves, etc to avoid the
direct contact with the person suffering from infectious diseases.
Question 3. Conduct a survey in your neighbourhood to find out what the
three most common diseases are. Suggest three steps that could be taken by
your local authorities to . bring down the incidence of these diseases.
Answer:

Common-diseases In neighbourhood Steps to bring down the diseases spread

1. Malaria 1. Clean surrounding

2. Typhoid 2. Clean drinking water
3. Cough and cold 3. Childhood immunisation

Question 4. A baby is not able to tell his/her caretakers that she/he is sick.
What would help us to find out
(a) that the baby is sick?
(a) what is the sickness?
Answer:
(a) The symptoms like body temperature, fever, cough, cold, loose-motions,
non-stop crying improper or no food intake etc. would help up to find that the
baby is sick.
(b) The symptoms could help us to find out the sickness of the body.

Question 5. Under which of the following conditions is a person most likely to

fall sick?
(a) When she is recovering from malaria.
(b) When she has recovered from malaria and is taking care of someone
suffering from chicken-pox.
(c) When she is on a four-day fast after recovering from malaria and is taking
care of someone suffering from chicken-pox.
Why?
Answer: (c) When she is on a four-day fast after recovering from malaria and is
taking care of someone suffering from chicken-pox.
As the person is not taking proper diet which is required for her proper health
and healing of body.
Her chances of getting chicken-pox also high as her body’s immunity has
lowered.
Question 6. Under which of the following conditions are you most likely to
fall sick?
(a) When you are taking examinations.
(b) When you have travelled by bus and train for two days.
(c) When your friend is suffering from measles.
Why?
Answer: (c) When your friend is suffering from measles, as it is an infectious
disease.