Why Do We Fall ill Test - 10

Vitamin K helps in blood coagulation. During an injury, loss of blood can be prevented through the clotting of blood. The German-speaking scientists who isolated and described vitamin K (in addition to naming it as such) did so because the vitamin is intimately involved in the coagulation of blood following wounding (from the German word - Koagulation).

Niacin is also known as nicotinic acid. It is an organic compound with the formula C₆H₅NO₂. Niacin (Vitamin B₃) helps in the formation of NAD (Nicotine Amide Diphosphate). NAD are the energy storing molecules present in the cell. 

The most common anti-malarial drug is obtained from bark of cinchona tree. The bark contains the alkaloid quinine along with several other alkaloids effective against malaria.

Blood capillaries can easily rupture due to the deficiency of Vitamin C. Bleeding gums are due to the deficiency of vitamin C (Ascorbic acid).

Eggs are a good source of Vitamins, minerals and proteins. Soyabean is one of the richest source of proteins. Lactating mothers need more proteins. Malnutrition is the absence of nutrients from food. Under-nutrition is the absence of a balanced diet. Under-nutrition is a deficiency of calories, or of one or more essential nutrients. Under-nutrition may develop because people cannot obtain or prepare food, have a disorder that makes eating or absorbing food difficult, or have a greatly increased need for calories.

A vitamin is an organic compound and a vital nutrient that an organism requires in limited amounts. Vitamin A is required for proper vision. It includes the compounds retinal, retinol, and four known carotenoids. So, the particular vitamin that has been advised by the doctor in the given case to improve the vision of the patient in dim light is vitamin A.

Animals that carry infecting agents from a sick person to another potential host are called vectors. The most common vectors are mosquitoes. Female Anopheles mosquito is a vector of plasmodium that causes malaria. Rabies is a viral disease that causes inflammation of the brain in humans and other mammals. Cigarette smoking has long lasting effects. A virus (HIV) causes AIDS (Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome).

Peptic ulcers are caused by a bacterium - Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). Acne is caused by a bacterium - Staphylococci. Hence, (c) and (d) are incorrect. Eating acidic/spicy food may increase the odds of an ulcer. High blood pressure can be caused by excessive weight and lack of exercise. Some cancers are caused by genetic abnormalities.

Penicillin is one of the first, and still one of the most widely used antibiotic agents, derived from the Penicillium mold. It works by indirectly bursting bacterial cell walls. Streptomycin is an antibiotic used to treat a number of bacterial infections. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that allows the body to use sugar (glucose) from carbohydrates in the food and to store glucose for future use. Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) is a vaccine primarily used against Tuberculosis. Insulin and BCG are not antibiotic.

(a) and (c) are correct statements. Antibiotics are the chemicals that kill or stop the growth of certain kinds of microbes like the bacteria. Antibiotics do not work against viral infections because viruses have very few biochemical mechanisms of their own. Viruses enter host cells and use the machinery of the host cell for their life processes. The causal organism of malaria is plasmodium. Female anopheles is a vector of malaria. Animals that carry infecting agents from a sick person to another potential host are called vectors.