Illness and disease

Geography

Grade 5

Health and well-being

Module 32

Illness and disease

We all become ill at times. When this happens, we visit the local doctor and/or take the right medication and wait for a speedy recovery. An ordinary illness can often have far-reaching consequences for people who live far from essential medical services. Sometimes people cannot even afford to buy the necessary medicines because they simply don’t have the money.

A. WHY DO WE FALL ILL?

There are germs all around us. We come into contact with them every day but we don’t necessarily become ill from the germs we inhale or ingest, because a healthy body has a natural defence system that protects one from becoming ill. The body’s immune system identifies any foreign cells and simply attacks and destroys the unwelcome visitors. Sometimes, however, a germ may succeed in slipping past the lines of defence and that is when we become ill. The body’s immune system carries on fighting against the intruder, and most often the body succeeds in getting well on its own, but there are times when we need medication to help the body recover. Specific medicines have been produced to kill specific “germs”. A patient often also takes medicine to strengthen the body again after an illness.

Activity 1:

To gain information on medicines from various sources

[lo 1.1]

• Talk to your parents, doctor and/or local pharmacist to find out the name of one kind of medicine that can be used when a patient is experiencing the symptoms listed in the table below. Write the name of the medicine in the column “Possible medication”.

There are different kinds of “germs” that attack the body, such as viruses, parasites and fungi that penetrate and invade the body from the outside. In other cases the attackers come from within the body itself, for example cancer cells.

“Germs” that attack the body from outside can penetrate the body in various ways. Some viruses and fungi are present in the air, and are simply inhaled. Others, for example parasites, live in drinking water and are transmitted to humans by insects such as mosquitoes, flies and blowflies. Sometimes there are germs on the objects we touch, and these germs can find their way into our mouths when we eat or touch our lips. Certain viruses, such as the HI virus, enter the body through contact with blood or during sexual intercourse.

B. CURABLE AND INCURABLE DISEASES

Most diseases with which we come into contact almost every day are curable. Some are more persistent and it takes longer to recover from them than from others. There are also some diseases that are so virulent that they just cannot be wiped out. For instance, despite all the research that has been done and the intense treatments that are available, some kinds of cancer still cannot be cured. In such cases treatment and medication are merely aimed at increasing the patient’s life expectancy and can do no more than ease the symptoms.

The HI virus that causes Aids is a very nasty virus. At this stage it is still too clever for the body’s defence mechanism.

Assessment

LO 1

GEOGRAPHICAL ENQUIRY

The learner will be able to use enquiry skills to investigate geographical and environmental concepts and processes.

We know this when the learner:

1.1 with guidance, selects and uses sources of useful geographical information [finds sources];

1.2 distinguishes between facts and opinions [works with sources];

1.3 categorises information [works with sources];

1.4 uses an index to find places on global atlas maps [works with sources];

1.6 identifies and explores possible solutions to problems [answers the question];

1.7 demonstrates knowledge and under-standing of the issue through projects, discussion, debate and charts [communicates the answer].