PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF DISEASES

CLASSIFICATION OF DISEASES.

Diseases may be classified as acquired and hereditary. The acquired diseases can be due to metabolic changes like diabetes, degeneration structurally, De-arrangement like the neoplastic, cardio vascular diseases, cirrhosis and etc. And also due to physical injuries or chemical injuries, inherited factor like bleeding tendencies due to deviation from the natural state hemoglobin or RH factor. Allergies due to various agents in surroundings and factors, and invasion by disease producing micro-organisms.

Easy way to prevent and control of diseases.

The practical application and aim of investigation and intelligence are to prevent and control the entry and spread of diseases in communities. The better the knowledge the factors the greater is the amenability of the disease to prevent and control. The aim of prevention and control are applicable to  non-communicable diseases. But a better knowledge of the specific causative agent and how it affect on the mankind makes it more possible to apply the principles of prevention and control to most communicable  diseases. The knowledge of the cause and epidemiological factors has now opened the  way for prevention and control of non-communicable diseases also.

Prevention and control levels

The new concept of health as the state of complete physical, mental. social well being and not merely the absence of diseases, also defines from disabilities and warrants the application of preventive and control measures in the prepathogenic, pathogenic and post pathogenic phases of diseases. The aim of the prepathogenic phase is to achieve primary prevention means health promotion by socioeconomic improvement and providing healthy housing. clothing, nutrition and living and working environments, secondly by taking specific preventive measures like immunization, water and food control, mosquito and fly control and so on. The demarcation between two types of primary preventive measures less clearly perceptible as the community development progresses further. In the pathogenic phrase the secondary prevention by early case finding and treatment aims an early cure, disability limitation and in covering the vulnerable population. It reduces dissemination of infections and limits mortality. Early treatment with new antibiotic medicines also stops the spread of infection and by suddenly sterilizing the infected discharges. For example antibiotic drugs in tuberculosis and dysentery, etc, are very effective. limitation of disability helps in early rehabilitation of the patient in the post pathogenic phase. A sudden rehabilitation prevents the recovered individual from lapsing back into ill health, mental and physical, protects the community from social disruption and distress. This is the third degree or tertiary prevention.

Chain of spread of communicable diseases.

Prevention is better than cure.Prevention of a disease means eliminating its initial entry into the community or an area or population and control means arresting its further spread or propagation after its entry in an area or community. Control inherits action to prevent invasion  of the non-afflicted but exposed individuals of the inflicted area or community. As far as the non-communicable diseases are concerned, some are easily controlled to simple means of protection such as effects of cold and heat, while others want more elaborate and complicate preventive measures and control measures for example, cancer, coronary heart diseases, hypertension, injuries due to accident, radiation, occupational or industrial hazards, and etc. The orientation and training of the mind to detect the points of application and practice is required. Infectious diseases are classified according to the disease producing agent or as per route/chain and mode of transmission. As usual both these grouping methods are attended. but as they have a chain of transmission from the carrier/reservoir or source through a route upto recipient it is easy to classify them as   animal borne, arthropod borne, air borne, food and water and milk borne, and so on. This classification is more easy from the point of view of control and prevention as it gives the venue of exit, transmission and entry of the infecting organism. Control measures aim at eliminating the causative agent in its reservoir at the source of its production.its destruction as soon as its exists, and before shows its specific spread interrupting its way of transmission.

Destruction of the reservoir of infection by early recognition and isolation of the cases and active suitable and antibiotic therapy which soon rids the tissues of  the infecting micro organism or germs. And also blocking the spread of the infecting organism by environmental control, special control measures, personal hygiene and protection. Improving the resistance power of host by health promotion and by the use of specific vaccines and antisera to give immunity against specific disease.

Action on the occurrence of an infectious disease.

In public health practice the action to control the the communicable disease has to be done in the form of a drill which involves no elaborate thought or preparation, because the causative organism travel speedy and gain invasive force as they proceed from person to person, not unlike a spreading fire.The usual action is at first detect the disease, then isolate the case,give full treatment, for the specific period and isolate the patient specific weeks. Disinfection of ineffective materials and articles used by patient, notifications of cases to authorities concerned, separation and watching of contacts, mass immunization of vulnerable community, investigation of current outbreak and survey to assess locally or regionally occurred cases.

BODY AND MIND

INDRODUCTION

Every physical ailment has a mental component and every mental sickness has a physical component. mental and physical health is an important roll of the total positive health. Social health of the community depends on its physical and mental positive health, as anti-social elements may develop by mental and physical handicaps. Mental health care upto to the recent past concerned itself  only with the diagnosis and treatments well established psychiatric cases. In fact the recognition of mental abnormalities as disease took many years.The concept has been recently broadened to include early detection of in an early stage mental breakdown. Only during the past five decades or the said concept had been further  widened to embrace the positive aspects of mental health. Now it is recognized that the aim of positive mental health care of the community to strengthen the social integrity by influencing the behavioral pattern of the individuals and groups so that psycho social situations are controlled by them rationally and logically or social well being of the community. 

The WHO health committee defines health is the complete stateness of mental,physical,social well being and free from diseases and disabilities, and mental health defines as "the capacity in an individual to form harmonious with others and to participate in or contribute constructively to changes in the social environment"The different constituent parts of one,s personality should work in harmony so that the individual faces life situations rationally, successfully and happily. Mental health comprehensive concept has thus a four fold goal before it, to understand and cure the the different types of mental illness and disorders to detect cases of incipient mental breakdowns early; to prevent or at least to minimize of the occurrence of the disorders and defects and improve the mental health of the community.  

PERSONAL HYGIENE

It consists of daily bath is the main to maintain a healthy skin and avert communicable skin diseases.Too much use of soap is not always good. After bath the body is rubbed  by towel in order to dry the body.Daily bath is beneficial not only for the cleanliness of the skin but also for its stimulating effect. A good bath followed by brisk rubbing of the skin activate the surface circulation there by improving the general circulation. This stimulates the cutaneous nerve ending making them more responsive and clears the sweat and sebaceous pores. An elastic, clean, healthy skin surface is an efficient safeguard against adverse of extremes of heat and also cold. The invigorating effect of a bath is due to stimulation of steroid secretions brought about by the mild stimulus produced by sudden contact of skin with water,cold in summer and hot in winter. Cold and hot water bathes respectively cool down the body in summer and warm it in winter.

Hair should be washed regularly, if not daily,properly groomed: they should always be kept short to avoid dirt accumulating in it.Nails accumulate dirt and pathogenic organisms and introduce them to one,s food if hands are not washed properly and in the skin  if one happens to scratch it. They should be kept short. Eyes, ears. nose and throat should be cleaned before brushing the teeth. Teeth should be preferably brushes after every meal, but least last meal of the day. A proper brush should be used for cleaning the teeth. Eyes should not be rubbed very often or wiped with dirty hands. A clean handkerchief should be used for wiping the eyes and another one for cleaning nose. and  while coughing or sneezing. Fingers should not be used to clean nose and ears.It is a dirty habit and may damage the ear drum or nasal mucosa, The nose should not be blown too much up to the Eustachian tube as the ear drum may rupture. Communal shaving by barber may cause sycosis or tenia infection. Spitting indiscriminately or coughing, sneezing with out use of handkerchief are bad habits which help to spread of respiratory infections.