Think about the last time you had a cold. A cold is a common disease caused by viruses. Maybe you had a sore throat. Maybe you sneezed and had a running nose.
Flu is another disease caused by viruses and germs. People with flu sometimes feel like they have a cold. They also have a fever. A fever is a body temperature that is higher than normal. People with flu may also have an upset stomach, body aches, and chills. The symptoms of high temperature can be a headache, bodyaches, red face, hot dry skin, loss of appetite, faster pulse, and quick breathing.
If a person has fever he must stay in bed and drink plenty of water. The nurge must keep the patient warm, give him more blankets and hot drinks. When the patient is sweating the nurse should replace damp bed-clothes as quickly as possible and dress the patient in clean warm gown or pygamas. When the temperature is normal the patient may sit in bed and then have a short walk.
Many people in childhood may also become sick with chicken pox. Chicken pox is a disease that causes red spots on skin. Chicken pox is also caused by a virus.
When agents enter your body, your white blood cells may not always destroy all of them. Something special happens. Your blood produces antibodies. Antibodies are substances in your blood that destroy certain kinds of disease agents. There are different antibodies for different agents.
These antibodies stay in your blood for different lengths of time. Some antibodies last only a few days. These antibodies are produced each time agents enter your body. Many different viruses cause colds. Each time you catch a cold, your body produces antibodies for one of these viruses.
Have you ever had chicken pox? If you have, there are antibodies in your blood to destroy the agents which cause this disease. These antibodies stay in your blood for a lifetime. The disease agent that causes chicken pox will never make you ill again. You have an immunity. An immunity is your body's way of fighting a disease.
Vitamins
A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in snuill amounts by an organism. Vitamins regulate chemical reactions I which the body converts food into energy and living tissues. They ulsn are essential nutrients for the healthy maintenance of the cells, tissues, and organs that make up a multicellular organism.
Vitamins are classified as either water-soluble or fat-soluble. In humans there are 13 vitamins: 4 fat-soluble (A, D. E, and K) and water-soluble (8 В vitamins and vitamin C). Water-soluble vitamin dissolve easily in water and are readily excreted from the body with tlx urine. Because they are not readily stored, consistent daily intake in important. Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed through the intestinal tract with the help of lipids and are more likely to accumulate in tin body.
Vitamin A (retinol) is necessary for healthy skin, development ol the bones, and good vision. Sources of this vitamin include cod livei oil, yellow, orange and green vegetables, and milk.
Vitamin B6 also called thiamine, is necessary for changing starches and sugars into energy. Tt is found in meat and whole-grain cereals, rice Vitamin B2 or riboflavin is essential for complicated chemical reactions that take place during the body's use of food. Milk, cheese, fish, liver, meat, eggs and green vegetables supply vitamin Br
Vitamin B, is better known as niacin or vitamin PP. Cells need niacin in order to release energy from carbohydrates. Liver, yeast, lean meat, fish, nuts, and legumes contain niacin.
Vitamins B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine) and B7 (biotin) all play a role in chemical reactions in the body. Many foods contain small amounts of these vitamins, but mainly meat, dairy products, eggs and whole-grain cereals.
Vitamins B12 or cobalamin and B, (also called folate, folic acid or folacin) are both needed for forming red blood cells and for a healthy nervous system. Vitamin Bp is found in animal products, especially liver. Folate is present in green leafy vegetables.
Vitamin С or ascorbic acid is necessary for the maintenance of the ligaments, tendons, and other supportive tissue. It is considered to be the main immune vitamin. It is found in fruits, especially in kiwifruits, oranges and lemons.
Vitamin D or calciferol is necessary for the body's use of calcium. It is present in cod liver oil and vitamin D-fortified milk.
Vitamin E or tocopherol helps maintain cell membranes. It is one of the known antioxidants. Unrefined vegetable oils, especially wheat germ oil, and whole-grain cereals are especially rich in this vitamin. It is also found in small amounts in most meats, fruits, and vegetables.
Vitamin К (К, — phylloquinone and Kj— menaquinone) is necessary for proper clotting of the blood. Green leafy vegetables contain vitamin K.
Hence, for the most part, vitamins are obtained with food, but a few are obtained by other means. For example, microorganisms in the intestine — commonly known as 'gut flora' — produce vitamins К and B7 (biotin), while one form of vitamin D is synthesized in the skin with the help of the natural ultraviolet waves of sunlight.
Deficiencies of vitamins are classified as either primary or secondary. A primary deficiency occurs when an organism does not get enough of the vitamin in its food. A secondary deficiency may be due to an underlying disorder that prevents or limits the absorption or use of the vitamin, due to a 'lifestyle factor', such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, or the use of medications that interfere with the absorption or use of the vitamin. People who eat a varied diet are unlikely to develop a severe primary vitamin deficiency. In contrast, restrictive diets have the potential to cause prolonged vitamin deficiency, which may result in often painful and potentially deadly diseases, such as scurvy (vit С deficit), rickets (vit D), anaemia (vit B6) and others.
Avitaminosis is any disease caused by chronic or long-term vitamin deficiency or caused by a defect in metabolic conversion, such as tryptophan to niacin. Conversely hypervitaminosis is the syndrome caused by over-retention of fat-soluble vitamins in the body.
Good health!
Early to bed, early to rise,
Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise..
This is an old English saying. Have you heard it before? It means that we must go to bed early and get up early in the morning. Then we shall be healthy. We shall also be rich (wealthy) and clever (wise).
Perhaps this is true. The body must have enough sleep to be healthy. Children of your age should have a nine hours sleep. They will not be wise and they may not become wealthy!
The human body also needs exercise. Walking, running, jumping, swimming, playing games, are all exercise. Exercise keeps the body strong.
Exercise also helps the blood to move around inside the body. This is very important. Our blood takes food to all parts of our body. The brain in our head also needs blood. We think with our brain. Exercis6 helps us to think better!
Our bodies also need air to breathe. We must have plenty of clean air to stay healthy.
There is something that our bodies must not have. We do not want illness or diseases. When we are ill, we have to stay in bed. We feel unwell. We have a headache or different kinds of pain, and perhaps a temperature. We cannot work and we cannot play. We feel unhappy.
One cause of illness and disease is dirt. Dirt is full of germs but they are too small to be seen without a microscope.
They are very, very small but they are alive. They can get inside our bodies and make
us ill.
They can get in through our noses or mouths. They can get in through our mouths more easily than through our noses. They can get into our bodies through our skin. We must keep our bodies clean. We must wash our hands before meals. We must keep our finger-nails clean.
We must also keep our teeth clean. Germs can make teeth bad. Then they become black or hurt. Toothache is very painful. We must clean our teeth every morning and every night.
Some people spit in the streets. This is very dirty. People who spit give diseases to other people.
We must also keep our homes and our streets clean. Drains carry away dirty water. We must not throw rubbish in the drains.
