Bacterial, Parasitic, and Inherited Categories of Disease - Essay Example

Health Biology A disease refers to abnormal condition, a disorder or malfunctioning of certain parts or entire body. Diseases make parts or the whole body sick so that a person or the affected body part cannot perform respective functions effectively. Many conditions, events and exposures cause development of diseases. It is usually noble to identify the main cause of a disease to design an effective treatment method. Any person venturing in health care career has to understand the various types of diseases, causes, and symptoms. Health care professionals also must understand diagnostic strategies to reveal even the most complex forms and causes of diseases. Diseases fall under various categories depending on the causative agents or factors. The most common categories are bacterial, fungal, viral, parasitic, degenerative, inherited, and deficiency among others. The paper will focus on bacterial, parasitic, and inherited categories of disease for, which there will be comparisons and contrasts based on various elements. Bacterial disease One of the diseases caused by bacterium is the gonorrhea attributed to a bacterium called Neisseria gonorrhea. The N. gonorrhea is a bacterium that is generally spherical in shape. It occurs in pairs with flattened adjacent sides. Human beings are the only natural host for the bacterium. The N. gonorrhea is efficient in utilizing the transferrin-bound iron for growth. Some also use the lactoferrin-bound iron. The bacterium becomes effective by binding only the human lactoferrin and the transferrin. It is due to the characteristic that the microbe attains recognition as exclusively affective on human body. Infection of Neisseria gonorrhea is through sexual contact or contact with fluids of an infected person. The bacterium usually targets the mucus membranes found in the urethra of males’ sexual organ, and the urethra together with the endocervix in females. The organism attaches itself on the cells of nonciliated epithelia using fimbriae or pili. Upon attachment using the pili structures, the organism begins production of substances called lipopolysaccharide endotoxin (Genco & Wetzler, 2010). On attaching to the nonciliated epithelia of the fallopian tube in women, microvilli surround and move them to the surface having the mucosal cells. The microbe then uses the process of parasite-directed endocytosia to enter into the epithelial group of cells. In that process, the membranes of the mucosal cells retract back to pinch off the membrane-bound vacuoles that carry the bacterium. The next event is usually the transportation of the vacuoles to the bottom of the cells where release of the bacteria through exocytosis into the subepithelial layer takes place. Upon infection, the autolysis process releases the peptidoglycan and lipoologosaccharides (LOS). Both the polysaccharides work to activate alternative pathway in the hosts. The LOS works extra to stimulate production of a protein called Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF). The TNF is usually responsible for damaging cells especially in the fallopian tube (Hamer & Griffiths, 2010). In some instances, the Neisseria gonorrhea enters the bloodstream to result to the development of the Gama-negative bacteremia that can result to disseminated infection. The strains of the gonorrhea bacteria responsible for causing the disseminated infections are normally resistant to the reaction of serum bactericidal and complement. This characteristic enable the bacteria to survive in the blood infected with bacteria. Usually, the lipooligosaccharide is responsible for development of most of the signs associated with gonorrhea (Peterson, 2009). In addition, the LOS works by binding the sialic acid available in the serum to form a microcapsule consisting of sialylated LOS. The contents of the microcapsule allow the gonococci to overcome the immune response of the host as well as the reactions of the serum bactericidal. Figure showing action of N. Gonorrhea in human body: Adapted from http://textbookofbacteriology.net/neisseria_2.html According to Genco and Wetzler (2010), Neisseria gonorrhea has a sophisticated system for iron acquisition that enables extraction of iron elements from the host, and that is crucial for supporting bacterial invasion. The bacteria form Tbp1 and Tbp2 transferrin receptors and one Lbp lactoferrin receptor around its membrane to extract iron from the lactoferrin, transferrin, and hemoglobin. On infecting the mucus membranes, the N. gonorrhea bacterium causes other health complications such as urethritis, salpingitis, cervicitis, proctitis, pharyngitis, and conjunctivitis. It takes 2-3 days of incubation of the Neisseria gonorrhea for purulent discharge to start flowing from the dysuria and urethra of male victims (Genco & Wetzler, 2010). Among women, the bacteria infect particularly the cervix most female victims do not show specific symptoms to associate with the disease. Degenerative disease Cancer is one of the common degenerative diseases affecting substantial number of people across the world. The disease’s development is usually due to damage of body cells when exposed to certain conditions that are unfavorable and unsupportive of life (Tot, 2011). Classification or naming of a cancerous disease depends on the type of the body cell initially affected. The damaged cells tend to divide uncontrollably and form lumps as well as tumors. In fact, uncontrolled division and spreading of the damaged cells to the nearby tissues is one common feature of most cancers. According to Seyfried 92012), the tumors usually grow to an extent of interfering with the nervous, digestive, and circulatory systems. The tumors also release certain hormones that end up altering the normal functions of the body. Normally, cells of the human body only divide and multiply to form new ones when the body needs new cells. As new ones develop the old die away and removed from the body system. However, cancer works to compromise the orderly replacement of old cells with new cells. Cancer makes the old cells that should die to continue surviving in the body while at the same time, the new one develop when not needed by the body. Contrary to the general perception that most cancers form tumors, cancer of the fluids such as those of the blood does not form tumors. Even though cancer is a degenerative disease, it has certain associations with genetic changes and damages of the body cells. Some of the genetic changes are inheritable while some are due to environmental conditions surrounding the body cells. Of all cancer cases, inherited cancers account for only 5-10%. About 90-95% of the global cancer cases are due environmental conditions. For instance, smoking of tobacco and exposure to radioactive rays such as those of the ultraviolet rays may cause damage to the body cells. Cancers fall under different classes that normal depend on the type of tissues or cells affected. Carcinomas are the common cancers that affect the epithelia layer of the body. Since the epithelial layer is big, there are different types of carcinomas. Sarcomas relate to the bones and the soft tissues that include fats, muscles, blood vessels, fibrous tissues, and the lymph vessels. Leukemia is another type of cancer that forms in the blood forming body tissues such as the bone marrow (Seyfried, 2012). Leukemia cancer does not form tumors but damages a huge portion of the white blood cells. Lymphoma cancer begins at the lymphocyte of the white blood cells. This type of cancer relates to abnormal and uncontrolled development of the lymphocyte cells in the lymph vessels and lymph nodes. Another type of cancers the multiple myeloma or Kahler disease that begins at the plasma cells that is also part of the human immune system. Cancer has no particular treatment method or drug. Most of the cancers develop due unsustainable lifestyles adopted by people. Over 1.5 million Americans develop cancer every year as 575000 die annually due to cancer. In fact, cancer is currently the leading cause of mortality and morbidity across the world. The only way to deal with cancer is to change lifestyles by adopting sustainable behaviors (Seyfried, 2012). However, the spread and effect of cancer is manageable when detected at earlier stages of development. Genetic disease One of the common genetic diseases affecting a huge population is the sickle cell anemia. The sickle cell disease is a disorder of the blood estimated to affect about 100,000 people in America. The red cell disease is particularly unique to the red blood cells, and specifically the hemoglobin that carries oxygen for transportation to all parts of the body. Under normal conditions, the phagocytes have rounded shapes and flexible so to travel trough narrow blood vessels when transporting oxygen (Genco & Wetzler, 2010). The sickle cell disease makes the red cells to change from the normal round shape to crescent form. The crescent shape resembles sickle that leads to their naming as sickle cell anemia. The crescent shape makes the cells not to fit well in the blood vessels, break easily, and cause anemia. The cells stick on the walls of the blood vessels and subsequently blocking the flow of blood. The sickle red cells suffer from reduced life span usually 10 to 20 days. This life span is abnormal when considering the life span of 120 days for normal red cells. With these conditions, sickle cell disease has the capability of leading to severe pain and irreversible damage to the heart, brain, kidneys, liver, lungs, spleen, and bones. The sickle cell disease characterizes with severe pain called acute sickle crisis. The sickle cell anemia is most common among Africans, African-Americans, and certain ethnic groups living in Central and South America, Mediterranean countries and the Caribbean. Unlike bacteria, virus, and fungi, the sickle cell disease is noncontiguous but inherited. A child born with sickle cell disease must have inherited two sickle cells genes with each parent donating one cell. Children who inherited only one gene of the sickle cell are carriers and do not experience anemia and the sickle cell crises (Bjorklund, 2011). It is for the reason that the disease is due to autosomal recessive gene. Unfortunately, sickle cell carriers are at the risk of having blood stained urine and infection of the urinary tract. Nearly 2 million people in America are carriers of sickle cell anemia. The symptoms of sickle cell disease include feelings of exhaustion, dizziness, nausea, fast breaths, faint, and short breaths. Victims of the disease also exhibit pale color on skin particular on the lips, fingernails, longue or eyelids. The Punnet square for sickle cell anemia Let T be the dominant gene and t the recessive gene For an offspring to inherit sickle anemia, both parents must be carriers or must have sickle cell trait since it is an autosomal recessive disease. This statement is to mean that the alleles of the father and mother must both be Tt heterozygous. Representing the situation on a Punnet Square will result to the following alleles of offspring; T t T TT Tt t Tt tt From the Punnet square, both the mother and father are carriers. The couple will be able to give birth to one normal baby as shown by the homogenous TT, and two babies with sickle cell trait as shown by the heterozygous Tt. Unfortunately, one of the offspring must have develop the sickle cell disease as shown by the homozygous tt. Poster of characteristics of Bactria, Virus and Fungi Bacteria are a class of organisms made of one cell, and lacks chlorophyll that is the green pigmentation responsible for manufacturing of food in plants. Bacteria are also prokaryotic in nature, which means that they lack nucleus. The microbe only has ribosome that carries energy for its activities. Bacteria are the second smallest organisms after viruses, existing on the planet Earth. They are small to an extent that a million bacterium laid end-to-end cannot measure five centimeters. These organisms are available everywhere including in the soil, water, air, food, body and even on the skin. The microbes have unique characteristics to multiply rapidly under specific favorable conditions. In fact, multiplication and replication, and the main purposes for which bacteria exist. On multiplication, bacteria form colonies consisting of millions to billions of the bacterium occupying as small space as a drop of water. Bacteria exist in three main shapes that scientists have researched and confirmed. The first is the spherical shape with which bacteria form chains that resemble rows of circles. Coccus is the term used to describe bacteria with the spherical shape. The second is the rod shape and resembles the E. coli that lives in the human’s intestine. The rod-shaped bacteria are the Bacillus group. Bacteria with spiral shapes have an alternative name as spirillum. The rod shaped bacteria have the capability of combining to form chains that resemble sausages. The last is the spiral shape that makes the bacteria look like corkscrew. The small size of the bacteria has particular advantage of ensuring large surface area to volume ration that facilitates rapid nutrients ingestion and distribution as well as easy waste excretion. It is important to note that most infections caused by bacteria are almost curable through the administration of antibiotics. Contrary to the widespread notion that bacteria only cause disease in the body of human beings and animals, the microorganisms perform other beneficial functions on other living organisms. The function of each bacterium on the host living organism or environment depends on the type of each individual bacterium. The nitrogen-fixing bacteria are beneficial as it assists plants to absorb nitrogen from the soil. Another type of bacteria found in the rumen of cows cattle also assist in quick and fast breaking of cellulose into sugar to supply the energy required by cattle at the instant. Bacteria have a definite cell wall that maintains the structural integrity of the prokaryotic cells. The cell wall serves performs the basic function of protecting the cell from the interior pressure developing due to higher protein concentration as well as other internal molecules relative to the external environment. Bacteria have a unique peptidoglycan located just outside the membrane of the cytoplasm. The peptidoglycan is a large molecule consisting of protein, and usually responsible for the occasional turgidity of the cell wall as well as determination of the shape of the bacterial cell (Medi-Health.net, 2015). Bacteria have two types of cell wall, which are the Gram positive and the Gram negative. Both the cell walls can allow passage of particles of approximately 2 nanometers to pass through their peptidoglycan. Gram-positive type of cell walls has the peptidoglycan acting as the structural elements of nearly the enter cell wall of bacteria. The Gram-negative type of cell wall on the other hand has peptidoglycan in thin layer just adjacent to the cytoplasm. Besides the peptidoglycan, the Gram-negative type of cell walls has an outer membrane made of lipo-polysaccharides, carbohydrates, and phospholipids. This type of cell wall has a general negative charge. Bacteria reproduce through the process of binary fission. Through binary fission, a single celled bacterium divides to form two similar daughter cells. The fission starts immediately the DNA of the particular bacterium replicates. The particular cell elongates and eventually splits to form two daughter cells having identical DNA as that of the parent cell. When favorable conditions in the form of temperature and nutrients are present, then some bacteria can divide after every 20 minutes. If is perhaps for that reason that bacteria send their victims into quick sickness. Bacteria exhibit two modes of feeding that lead to their classification as either autotrophic to heterotrophic. The autotrophic bacteria have the capability to manufacture their organic food materials from inorganic materials. The autotrophic bacteria use carbon dioxide to obtain carbon and use hydrogen sulfide or ammonia to generate hydrogen used for reducing carbon. Autotrophic bacteria further fall into two categories that include phototrophic and chemosynthetic (Dworkin & Falkow, 2006). Phototrophic bacteria have photosynthetic pigments in the lamellae and use solar energy. During the associated photosynthetic process, water does not act as a source of hydrogen, and the process does not liberate oxygen. The chemosynthetic bacteria manufacture its food using the inorganic materials and utilizing the energy from the process of oxidation. The heterotrophic bacteria are unable to produce own food and are dependent on the external sources. Heterotrophic are divisible into saprophytic and aerobic. The process that enables the bacteria to breakdown protein is putrifaction. Viruses are small infectious organisms that multiply under conditions found only in the living cells of animals, plants, and bacteria. The length of most viruses ranges from 20 nm to 1400 nm. Just like bacteria, viruses are present in nearly everything on the Earth’s surface. However, viruses are the most abundant microorganisms found on Earth. Unlike the bacteria, viruses have nucleus that contain the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or the ribonucleic acid (RNA). Contrasted to bacteria that are active in nearly all their inhabitants, viruses are only active when inside the living cells. Viruses do not have definite cell structures like the bacteria. Concisely, viruses do not have cells but only contain nucleus coated with protein. Viruses have only DNA or RNA as the basic genetic material, but not both. Viruses have a core called the capsid that works to protect nucleic acid (Zimmer, 2011). Each virus can only have one form of nucleic acid as either RNA or DNA. Unlike the plant and animal cells, viruses cannot enclose both the nucleic acids. Besides the capsid, some viruses especially those of animals have additional protective cover known as envelop. Some viruses have envelops covered with spikes consisted of proteins and carbohydrates. Viruses use the spikes to know and identify the cells that they intend to infect. Among viruses, the arrangement of proteins in the capsid determines the shape of each organism. For instance, the Tobacco Mosaic virus has a rod shape while the Poliovirus and Adenovirus have polyhedral shape. Unlike bacteria that are always alive, a general consideration of viruses is that they are usually alive and dead. This statement infers to the fact that viruses appear dead when outside the body of organisms but alive when inside the living cells also called host cells (Peterson, 2009). Contrasted to bacteria that have enzymes and ribosome responsible for facilitation of metabolism reactions, viruses lack either. Instead, viruses depend on the enzymes and ribosome available in the host cells to carry their survival activities such as mutation and infections. Just like the bacteria, transmission of viruses can be through disease to the healthy organisms. Contrary to the bacteria that have to feed o survive, viruses do not actually eat but only requires energy that becomes possible by virtue of depending on a host. The energy does not come to viruses in the form of food, but necessary for replication (Zimmer, 2011). In contrast to bacteria, viruses do not reproduce but replicate into many copies that usually worsen the state of a particular virus caused disease. The multiplication of viruses happens through either the lytic cycle or lysogenic cycle. In lytic cycle, viruses attach to and infuse the hosting cell using the nucleic acid. The acid abdicates the host cell and immediately the particular virus begins the replication process. Within a sometime, the viruses multiplied overcome the host cell that reacts by bursting (Hammer & Griffiths, 2010). The formed viruses then searches for possible host cells where they continue with the lytic process, which eventually kills the targeted cells. In lysogenic cycle, the viruses entering the host cells are usually slow to multiply. The nucleic acid usually present inside chromosome is not active and do not affect the functions of a cell immediately. However, after sometimes the nucleic acid separates from the host genetic material in the host cell and begins multiplication. The newly produced viruses eventually kill the hosting cell and lead to lysogenic cycle. The image shows the replication process (lytic and lysogenic cycles in viruses). The image adapted from http://www.med-health.net/How-Do-Viruses-Reproduce.html Viruses cause a number of human infections that are generally tragic considering unavailability of specific way to treat the viral infections. The only thing that health care providers are able to do to help a victim is to apply drugs and mechanisms intended to reduce effects of the symptoms. . The common diseases caused by viruses include and not limited to Human Immune-deficiency Virus (HIV), chickenpox, mumps, Fungi Fungi are a group of microorganisms that have true nucleus leading to their consideration as eukaryotic cells. Most of the fungi have many cells with the cell wall made of chitin (Ruiz-Herrera, 2012). Fungi obtain important nutrients by absorbing organic substances within their environments. In many cases, the fungi absorb the desired nutrients from dead or living organic matter upon which they grow. In the process of feeding, the fungi absorb simple and easily dissolved sugars through the cell walls. Fungi also depend on symbiosis usually established with plants to obtain food. Other fungi can establish relationships with their hosts to obtained food (parasitism). Contrary to other organism that have internal digestion of food, fungi secretes digestive enzymes on the identify food materials and digesting the particular food outside the body. Unlike the bacteria that reproduce through binary fission and viruses that only multiply, fungi reproduce through release of substances called spores. A particular cell of fungi can produce 24 offspring. Spores on the tip of a stalk only burst to release seeds when fully mature. Agents of seed dispersion such as wind and water can carry the spores to locations away from their actual point of production (Long, Pickering & Prober, 2012). The spores can only germinate when the necessary or favorable conditions are available. In case that the favorable condition is unavailable, the spores can survive in dormant form over extended time. Unlike bacteria that have a maximum of four shapes, fungi can occur in various sizes and shapes. Fungi can exist in individual cells or even form enormous chains measuring miles of lengths. Despite the fact that fungi mostly reproduce asexually, most can also reproduce sexually through meiosis so to fit in different environment. References RUIZ-HERRERA, J. (2012). Fungal Cell Wall: Structure, Synthesis, and Assembly, Second Edition. Broken Sound Parkway; NW: CRC Press. BJORKLUND, R. (2011). Sickle cell anemia. New York, Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. LONG, S. S., PICKERING, L. K., & PROBER, C. G. (2012). Principles and practice of pediatric infectious diseases. Edinburgh, Elsevier/Saunders. HAMER, D., & GRIFFITHS, J. K. (2010). Public health and infectious diseases. Oxford, UK, Academic Press. GENCO, C. A., & WETZLER, L. M. (2010). Neisseria: molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis. Norfolk, UK, Caister Academic Press. MED-HEALTH.NET. (2015). How Do Viruses Reproduce? (Accessed on 27 May 27, 2015) from: http://www.med-health.net/How-Do-Viruses-Reproduce.html TODAR, K. (2015).Pathogenic Neisseriae: Gonorrhea, Neonatal Ophthalmia and Meningococcal Meningitis (page 2). (Accessed May 27, 2015) from: http://textbookofbacteriology.net/neisseria_2.html PETERSON, J. M. (2009). Sickle cell anemia. New York, Rosen Pub. DWORKIN, M. M., & FALKOW, S. (2006). Proteobacteria: Alpha and Beta subclasses. New York, NY, Springer. SEYFRIED, T. N. (2012). Cancer as a metabolic disease on the origin, management, and prevention of cancer. Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons. TOT, T. (2011). Breast cancer a Lobar disease. London, Springer. Read More