Factors affecting human healthIB MYP Biology: Subtopic test

1. 1
   A health clinic in Cairo records the illnesses of its patients during one week. A group of children who attend the same nursery all have measles, which spread from one child to the others. Separately, several adults have coronary heart disease, and none of them caught it from another person.

   (a)

   Which of these is a non-communicable disease?

   [1 mark]

   • AMeasles
   • BCholera
   • CType 2 diabetes
   • DTuberculosis

   (b)

   Which statement describes a communicable disease?

   [1 mark]

   • AIt is caused by a pathogen and can spread from one person to another
   • BIt is caused by a lack of exercise and cannot be passed on
   • CIt is always inherited from parents
   • DIt is caused by eating too much sugar

   (c)

   Describe two differences between communicable and non-communicable diseases.

   [2 marks]

   Total for question 1: 4 marks

2. 2
   Sipho is 15 and lives in Johannesburg. He drinks several sugary drinks a day, often eats fried food, and spends most evenings sitting at a screen. His doctor measures his body mass and finds that he is well above the healthy range. The doctor warns him that he is at risk of serious illness later in life.

   (a)

   What is the term for a condition in which a person has so much body fat that their health is harmed?

   [1 mark]

   • ADehydration
   • BScurvy
   • CAnaemia
   • DObesity

   (b)

   Which statement correctly describes type 2 diabetes?

   [1 mark]

   • AThe pancreas is destroyed by a virus so no insulin is made
   • BBody cells stop responding properly to insulin so blood glucose stays too high
   • CToo much insulin is made so blood glucose falls too low
   • DGlucose cannot be absorbed from the small intestine

   (c)

   Explain how regular exercise could reduce Sipho's risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

   [2 marks]

   Total for question 2: 4 marks

3. 3
   A man in Jakarta is 52. He has smoked 20 cigarettes a day for 30 years. He is now breathless when he climbs stairs and he coughs every morning. His doctor tells him that tobacco smoke contains tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide, and that he is at risk of lung disease and coronary heart disease.

   (a)

   Describe how tobacco smoke damages the gas exchange system.

   [3 marks]

   (b)

   Explain how smoking increases the risk of coronary heart disease.

   [4 marks]

   Total for question 3: 7 marks

4. 4
   A national health agency in Australia is deciding how to reduce non-communicable disease. It paid for a ten-year study of 2000 adults aged 40 to 60. Of these, 1000 took at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week and 1000 took less than 30 minutes. At the end of the study, 90 of the active adults and 210 of the inactive adults had developed type 2 diabetes. The agency is also considering a higher tax on alcoholic drinks.

   (a)

   Process the data from the study and evaluate whether it shows that regular exercise reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes.

   [6 marks]

   (b)

   Discuss the effects of heavy long-term alcohol drinking on the body and on society, and justify whether the agency should introduce a higher tax on alcoholic drinks.

   [6 marks]

   Total for question 4: 12 marks

End of questions