Microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses are very relevant to an individual’s health due to the fact that people are continually being exposed to organisms such as these. However, many microorganisms work with humans to lend a hand in everyday function such as the breakdown of food we ingest. With that being said, microorganisms can also negatively affect human health.
Everyday there is someone fighting a non-infectious disease caused by a microorganism. To explain, a non-infectious disease is a disease that is not contagious, and that is not directly caused by a pathogen. Diseases that are considered non-infectious are some cancers, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and heart disease. For example, oral bacteria has the ability to secrete a toxin that builds up and breaks down proteins, thus decreasing the amount of nerve cells available for communication and therefore causing Alzheimer’s. In addition, autoimmune diseases that cause an individual’s immune system to attack itself, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus can also be caused by microorganisms.
It is interesting how microorganisms can be both helpful and detrimental to people. Diving deeper into the connection between microorganisms and noninfectious diseases will give me more knowledge for my future profession of being a physicians assistant. This is a topic more individuals should probably take note of to have a better idea of how some diseases can be caused.
