Disease

From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.

A disease is a change from good health to poor health. It is when one or many parts of the body do not work right or cause pain. Disease is also called sickness and illness. If not treated, some diseases can cause death.

[edit] Causes of disease

A disease can be caused by many things. A person can be infected by infectious agents like bacteria or viruses. Disease can also be caused by eating spoiled foods. Some people are born with 'genetic diseases.' These are diseases because of a mistake in a person's DNA. Another cause of disease is an unhealthy environment. Diseases are more common in older people.

[edit] Treatments of disease

Some diseases can be helped with medicine. Some disease is helped by surgery. Not every disease can be helped with medicine or surgery, though. Some diseases must be treated for your whole life. An example is diabetes. Diabetes can be treated (made better) but it can not yet be cured (made to totally go away.) People who usually treat disease are called doctors or physicians.

[edit] Prevention of disease

Some diseases that are common or very bad are tested for even in people who are healthy. If these diseases are found early they can be treated before they cause problems. An example would be checking a woman for cervical cancer with a pap smear. If cervical cancer is found early it can be fixed. If it is found later it usually causes death.

For prevention to be useful, it needs to look at diseases that have special characteristics:

• The disease must be helped or cured by early treatment.
• The disease must be common.
• The test for the disease should be easy, accurate, and not cost very much money.
• The treatment for the disease should be safe and not cost very much money.