Category 5 · Science & Technology

Human Health and Diseases

17 micro topics in Science & Technology for UPSC Prelims, in book order: Common Human Diseases and Their Causative Agents (Bacterial, Viral, Fungal, Protozoan); Deficiency Diseases (Diseases Arising from Insufficient Nutrients); and 15 more.

5.1

Common Human Diseases and Their Causative Agents (Bacterial, Viral, Fungal, Protozoan)

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, according to the World Health Organization, and disease is any condition that disturbs it. Infectious diseases are caused by pathogens, which may be bacteria, viruses,…
5.2

Deficiency Diseases (Diseases Arising from Insufficient Nutrients)

Deficiency diseases arise when the body does not get enough of a nutrient needed for normal function. Vitamin deficiencies include night blindness from vitamin A, beriberi from vitamin B1, pellagra from vitamin B3, scurvy from vitamin…
5.3

Molecular Biology and Human Disease

Molecular biology and human disease is the study of how changes in genes, RNA and proteins cause illness, and how this knowledge is used to diagnose and treat it. Many diseases have a molecular basis: sickle…
5.4

Chromosomal Inheritance Disorders

Chromosomal inheritance disorders are conditions caused by a change in the number or structure of chromosomes, not by a single gene. The most common cause is non-disjunction, the failure of chromosomes to separate during meiosis, which…
5.5

Non-Chromosomal (Mendelian) Inheritance Disorders

Non-chromosomal inheritance disorders, also called Mendelian or single-gene disorders, are caused by a mutation in a single gene and follow Mendel's patterns of inheritance. They are classed by the type of chromosome and the dominance of…
5.6

Vector-Borne Diseases

Vector-borne diseases are infections spread to humans by living carriers, called vectors, mostly blood-feeding insects such as mosquitoes, sandflies, ticks and fleas. The main diseases in India are malaria, dengue, chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis, lymphatic filariasis, kala-azar,…
5.7

Water-Borne Diseases

Water-borne diseases are infections spread by drinking or using water contaminated with the excreta of infected people or animals. They include cholera, typhoid, bacillary and amoebic dysentery, hepatitis A and E, polio, giardiasis, rotavirus diarrhoea and…
5.8

Lifestyle Diseases: Diabetes Mellitus and Other Non-Communicable Diseases

Lifestyle diseases, also called non-communicable diseases, are conditions that arise mainly from long-term habits and risk factors and do not spread from person to person. The main groups are cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and…
5.9

Tuberculosis and New TB Drug Regimens

Tuberculosis, TB, is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, discovered by Robert Koch in 1882. It mainly affects the lungs and spreads through droplets when a person with active pulmonary TB coughs. Typical…
5.10

Vaccination and Immunity Building; Vaccination Initiatives in India (Mission Indradhanush)

Vaccination is the giving of a vaccine to stimulate the immune system to build protection against a disease without causing it. Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine, against smallpox, in 1796. Vaccines contain weakened or killed…
5.11

Antibiotic Medications and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

Antibiotics are medicines that kill bacteria or stop them from growing. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin from the mould Penicillium in 1928, and the antibiotic age began when Howard Florey and Ernst Chain developed it for use…
5.12

Antiviral and Antifungal Drugs

Antiviral drugs are medicines that stop viruses from multiplying inside host cells, and antifungal drugs are medicines that kill fungi or stop their growth. Both are harder to design than antibiotics. Viruses use the machinery of…
5.13

Monoclonal Antibody Therapy

Monoclonal antibodies are identical antibody molecules made by a single clone of immune cells, designed to bind one specific target, called an antigen. Georges Kohler and Cesar Milstein developed the hybridoma method in 1975, in which…
5.14

Development of Drug Combinations

A drug combination is the use of two or more drugs together, either as separate medicines taken at the same time or as a single tablet called a fixed-dose combination, FDC. Combinations are used to raise…
5.15

Drug Cost Structure and Pricing in India

Drug pricing in India is regulated by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, NPPA, a body under the Department of Pharmaceuticals in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, which implements the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013. Medicines…
5.16

Role of Genetics/Pharmacogenetics in Pharmacology

Pharmacogenetics is the study of how a person's genes affect the way they respond to drugs, and pharmacogenomics is the wider study across the whole genome. Differences in genes for drug-metabolising enzymes, drug transporters and drug…
5.17

Imaging Methods: CT Scan, MRI, PET Scan

Medical imaging methods produce pictures of the inside of the body without surgery. The X-ray, discovered by Wilhelm Rontgen in 1895, passes through the body and gives a shadow picture of dense tissue such as bone.…

← All Science & Technology categories

Frequently asked questions

Which topics are in Human Health and Diseases?

Human Health and Diseases has 17 micro topics in Science & Technology: Common Human Diseases and Their Causative Agents (Bacterial, Viral, Fungal, Protozoan); Deficiency Diseases (Diseases Arising from Insufficient Nutrients); Molecular Biology and Human Disease; Chromosomal Inheritance Disorders; Non-Chromosomal (Mendelian) Inheritance Disorders; Vector-Borne Diseases; Water-Borne Diseases; Lifestyle Diseases: Diabetes Mellitus and Other Non-Communicable Diseases; Tuberculosis and New TB Drug Regimens; Vaccination and Immunity Building; Vaccination Initiatives in India (Mission Indradhanush); Antibiotic Medications and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR); Antiviral and Antifungal Drugs; Monoclonal Antibody Therapy; Development of Drug Combinations; Drug Cost Structure and Pricing in India; Role of Genetics/Pharmacogenetics in Pharmacology; Imaging Methods: CT Scan, MRI, PET Scan.

Is Human Health and Diseases important for UPSC Prelims?

Human Health and Diseases is a part of the UPSC Prelims Science & Technology syllabus map on MaargX UPSC. Each of its 17 published topics has key terms, a Mains angle and practice questions.