Eduqas GCSE Biology 3 Health, Disease and the Development of Medicine Exam Questions

About Eduqas GCSE Biology 3 Health, Disease and the Development of Medicine

This Eduqas GCSE Biology topic has four parts: health and disease, communicable disease, treating, curing and preventing disease, and non-communicable diseases in humans. You need to know how pathogens spread, the named examples HIV/AIDS, Chlamydia, ash dieback and malaria, and how the body defends itself with the skin, clotting, phagocytes and lymphocytes. It then covers vaccines, antibiotics and resistance, aseptic technique, drug trials and lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Examiners often ask you to explain how a vaccine gives immunity, why antibiotics do not work on viruses, and to interpret data on lifestyle risk factors.

What you need to know

• 3.1 Health and disease Communicable diseases are caused by pathogens and can spread, such as influenza; non-communicable diseases cannot be passed on, such as cardiovascular disease. Diseases interact: HIV damages the immune system and increases the risk of other diseases, and diabetes increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
• 3.2 Spread of named diseases Pathogens spread by contact, aerosols, body fluids, water, insects and contaminated food. HIV is spread through body fluids; Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection; ash dieback is a fungal disease of ash trees spread by spores; malaria is caused by a protist carried by mosquitoes.
• 3.2 Human defences The skin is a barrier and blood clots seal wounds. Phagocytes engulf and digest pathogens. Lymphocytes recognise antigens and produce antibodies and antitoxins; memory cells give faster responses to later infections.
• 3.2 Monoclonal antibodies and plant defences Monoclonal antibodies are made from activated lymphocytes and bind to one specific antigen; they are used in diagnosis (for example Chlamydia and HIV), tissue typing, monitoring malaria and supporting chemotherapy. Plants defend themselves with cellulose cell walls, a waxy cuticle, hairs (trichomes), stinging cells and toxic chemicals.
• 3.3 Vaccines and antibiotics A vaccine contains antigens from a dead or weakened pathogen, stimulating lymphocytes to make antibodies and memory cells. Antibiotics such as penicillin kill bacteria but not viruses. Overuse leads to resistant strains such as MRSA through natural selection.
• 3.3 Aseptic technique and drug testing SP3.3: the effect of antibiotics on bacterial growth, using sterile equipment, inoculating, plating and incubating, then measuring clear zones. New drugs go through preclinical testing on cells and animals, then clinical trials on healthy volunteers and patients to check safety, dose and effectiveness.
• 3.4 Non-communicable disease Lifestyle factors (diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol, UV exposure) increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, lung and skin cancer, emphysema, type 2 diabetes and cirrhosis. Cardiovascular disease can be treated with statins, angioplasty (stents) or lifestyle change, each with advantages and disadvantages.

Common mistakes in 3 Health, Disease and the Development of Medicine

• Saying antibiotics kill viruses. Antibiotics only work on bacteria, which is why they are not used for colds or influenza.
• Writing that bacteria become resistant because they get used to the antibiotic. Random mutations give some bacteria resistance; these survive and reproduce, so resistance spreads by natural selection.
• Saying antibodies kill pathogens by eating them. Phagocytes engulf pathogens; antibodies bind to antigens and help destroy them.
• Stating that a vaccine contains antibodies. A vaccine contains antigens, which stimulate your own lymphocytes to make antibodies and memory cells.
• Saying smoking causes lung cancer in every smoker. Use the language of risk: smoking increases the risk of lung cancer.

Try three 3 Health, Disease and the Development of Medicine exam-style questions