New drugs are being developed all the time.

Historically drugs have come from nature, as parts of

plants and microorganisms have been extracted. One of the most famous discoveries was made by
Sir Alexander Fleming, who discovered the antibiotic penicillin from the penicillium mould. By
chance, he discovered that where an agar plate of bacteria had been contaminated by a mould, the
bacteria had been killed.

Antibiotics are still very important in the fight against disease.

Plant extracts

Certain drugs can be extracted from natural sources, and have been known about for a long time.
For example, willow bark was used by the ancient Greeks to help cure fevers and pains. It was later
discovered that the active ingredient was salicylic acid. This was modified by chemists into the
substance we call aspirin, which is less irritating to the stomach than salicylic acid. Another example
is the heart drug, digitalis which is extracted from foxgloves.

Plants are still important today, but most drugs are now created in a laboratory by scientists at
pharmaceutical companies. These companies now have synthetic versions of the plant extracts, and
use these as the starting point to develop new drugs.

There are several main types of white blood cell.

Phagocytes

About 70 per cent of white blood cells are phagocytes. Phagocytes engulf and destroy unwanted
microorganisms that enter the blood, by the process of phagocytosis. They are part of the body's
immune system.

Lymphocytes make up about 25 per cent of white blood cells. They are also part of the body's
immune system. Lymphocytes produce soluble proteins called antibodies when a foreign
body such as a microorganism enters the body.

Platelets
Platelets are cell fragments produced by giant cells in the bone marrow.

Platelets stop bleeding in two main ways:

they have proteins on their surface that enable them to stick to breaks in a blood
vessel and clump together
they secrete proteins that result in a series of chemical reactions that make blood clot,
which plugs a wound.

Blood products
Blood products are components of blood that are given to a patient by transfusion. They
include:

red blood cells

platelets
plasma
antibodies
Blood products are produced from blood from blood donors.

Blood products can then be given to patients depending on their needs. Patients rarely receive
transfusions of whole blood in modern medicine.

Blood products are screened for:

infectious agents such as HIV

their blood group
the presence of certain antibodies
Blood for transfusion must be compatible with that of the patient's blood, for instance, their
blood group. Before a transfusion, white blood cells are often removed to reduce the risk of
infections or immune reactions.

Looking at blood cells

Many types of blood cell are 10 μm in size or less. You will need high power to examine
them.

The body is constantly defending against attacks from pathogens. The first line of defence against
infection stops the pathogens from entering your body. These first lines are general defences, and
are not specific to fight against certain types of pathogen. They are called non-specific, and they can
be physical or chemical barriers.

Skin

The skin covers almost all parts of your body to prevent infection from pathogens. If it is cut or
grazed it immediately begins to heal itself, often by forming a scab, which prevents infection as the
skin acts as a physical barrier. Parts of the body that do not have skin have developed other ways to
prevent infection. For example, the eyes produce tears, which contain enzymes, and these are
chemical barriers

All types of pathogen have a simple life cycle. They infect a host, reproduce themselves or replicate
if it is a virus, spread from their host and infect other organisms. They also all have structural
adaptations that make them successful at completing their life cycles, which enable them to cause
further disease.

Diseases caused by pathogens are called communicable diseases. This means they can be
transferred from one person to another.

There are other types of disease which cannot be caught:

Inherited genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis.

Deficiency diseases which are caused by a lack of essential vitamins or minerals, such as scurvy
which occurs when an individual has insufficient vitamin C.

Diseases like cancer that develop as a result of exposure to carcinogens or develop naturally as cell
division occurs incorrectly.

All organisms are affected by pathogens. Even bacteria are infected by certain types of virus. Some
of these infections can be transferred to organisms of a different species

Something that increases the likelihood of developing a disease is called a risk factor. For
example, smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer.

Some diseases, their effects and their risk factors are shown in the table below.

Risk
Disease Effects
factor

Type 2 The body's cells no longer respond to insulin; blood glucose levels
Obesity
diabetes cannot be regulated properly

Alcohol Cirrhosis Scar tissue is formed in the liver; the liver is unable to remove toxins

Smoking Lung cancer Carcinogens in cigarette smoke cause cells to become cancerous

Correlation
Scientists look for patterns in data. These patterns can identify risk factors involved in non-
communicable diseases.

For instance, data collected have shown links between developing cancer and:

various lifestyle factors
chemicals produced in the human body or that enter the body
chemicals in the environment
Below is an example of how a risk factor has been found. This has come from studies on
smoking cigarettes and lung cancer.

Historically, in the USA, a pattern can be seen in the amount of cigarette use and the
incidence of lung cance