Contents
The study of marine Biology Topics reveals the incredible diversity and complexity of life in the oceans.
Health and its Failure – Significance of Health
As we know, cells are the fundamental units of living organisms. They are made of a variety of chemical substances such as proteins, carbohydrates, fats or lipids, and so on. We have also seen that each living cell in itself is a dynamic unit. Things are always happening there. For instance, cells continuously move from place to place. Even when a cell is immobile, cell repair or the formation of new cells and other such functions are continuously being carried out within cells.
Similarly, within our body, organs carry out various specialized activities at all times e.g., the heart beats to pump blood to all body parts, the lungs breathe to exchange gases, the kidneys filter the blood and make urine and the brain thinks. All these activities of various body organs are interconnected. If kidneys, stop filtering the blood, poisonous substances will accumulate in the body. Under such conditions, the brain will not be able to think properly. Anything that prevents the proper functioning of the cells and tissues will lead to a lack of proper activities in the body.
Significance of Health
Health is described as the state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. Thus, being healthy means that one feels good physically, has a positive outlook, and is able to cope with social and mental pressures without much difficulty. Being healthy is far more than just being free from diseases.
For maintaining a healthy life cycle, a person needs to have a balanced and varied diet, needs to exercise, live regularly in a proper shelter, and get enough sleep. Maintaining good hygiene also reduces the chances of developing an infection. A disease regularly usually indicates a malfunction in the body. A doctor is able to diagnose disease is by identifying the symptoms. Symptoms of a disease may be physical, mental, or both.
Our health is affected not only by an unbalanced diet but also by disease-causing organisms which may be water-borne, air-borne, or food-borne. Some diseases are caused by infection through microorganisms, insects, and parasites. Infection develops when germs/microbes (i.e., viruses) or some pathogenic (disease-producing) organisms such as bacteria, fungi, protozoans, helminths, nematodes, etc., enter the human body. Therefore, to prevent the infection of diseases, we need to keep our environment clean and hygienic. Thus, personal hygiene and community hygiene help in the prevention and spreading of diseases.
Overlap of Personal and Community Issues for Health
Human beings live in societies. Our social environment, therefore, plays an important part in our individual health. We live in villages, towns, or cities. In such places, our physical environment is decided by our social environment. For example, just think what would happen if there is no agency to ensure that garbage is collected and disposed of? What would happen if no one takes responsibility for cleaning the drains to ensure that wastewater does not get collected in the streets or open spaces?
If there are heaps of garbage and trash littered here and there, or if there is open drain water lying stagnant around where we live, the possibility of poor health increases. So, public cleanliness is also an important contribution to an individual’s health.
Differences between Healthy and Disease Free
| Healthy | Disease Free |
| 1. It is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. | 1. It is a state of absence of discomfort or derangement in any part of the body. |
| 2. It depends upon the individual as well as on physical and social environmental factors. | 2. It is related to the individual only. |
| 3. A healthy person will be disease free. | 3. A disease-free person can be healthy or unhealthy. |
| 4. Healthy person is energetic and able to perform as per requirement. | 4. Performance of a disease-free person depends upon the environment and personal attitude. |
Social equality and harmonious relationships among our population are necessary for individual health. Thus, we see that there is an overlap of personal and community issues regarding health. The conditions essential for good health are:
- Steps to ensure sanitation, i.e., clean surroundings by providing good sewage and rainwater disposal systems and proper garbage disposals.
- Availability of clean drinking water.
- Availability of adequate, nutritious food.
- Social equality and harmony.
Disease and its Causes
Occasionally, human health gets negatively affected due to physiological malfunctioning, psychological reasons, or pathogenic (disease-causing) organisms. The term disease means Dis-ease or without ease or discomfort. The disease can also be defined as an impairment (malfunctioning) of the normal state of the living organism that disturbs or modifies the performance of vital functions. The disease may be a response to
- environmental factors (such as malnutrition, industrial hazards, or climate)
- specific infective agents (such as worms, protozoans, fungi, bacteria, or viruses)
- inherent defects of the organism (as genetic anomalies)
- combination of these factors.