RESOLVING THE MISCONCEPTION ABOUT THE CAUSES OF DISEASES

In the ancient days there was lots of debate about the cases of disease. Most diseases were believed to be of spiritual origin, maybe as a punishment for an evil deed, disobedience or whatsoever reasons. Native doctors and traditional priests were the doctors of the era, they offered sacrifices on behalf of the infected persons.

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From the not so distant past up to the present day, countless theories have existed about disease origins, for instance Malaria is believed to be caused by excess oil, there is also the belief that some diseases are inflicted on victims by ill-willed diabolic people with juju powers because of jealousy, strife and some other reasons (westerners may doubt this but we Africans know it’s very much possible).

Anton van Leewenhoek

The first microscope

The discovery of the microscope by Anton Van Leewenhoek and subsequent discovery of microorganisms by the same man changed science and the world at large. His work along with those of later scientists like Louis Pasteur was able to successfully proof that microorganisms were responsible for almost all diseases and also confirmed the Biogenesis theory (that all livings things arose from preexisting living things).

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Microorganisms are tiny living cells that cannot be seen with the naked eyes. They are ubiquitous (meaning they are found everywhere), they are of high diversity and are capable of surviving virtually everywhere including on the outside and inside of our bodies. Some are natural occupants of our bodies (known as normal flora e.g. Staphylococcus aureus, and S. epidermidis) while others are not, when these foreign microorganisms get in our bodies they can cause diseases, they do not always cause diseases as they are sometimes defeated by our immune system which gets to work immediately it senses any foreign presence.
These foreign microorganisms get into our bodies through various means e.g. Inhalation (Mycobacterium tuberculosis causing tuberculosis), Insects and animal bites (Mosquito bite transmitting Plasmodium Spp. Causing malaria, Bite from a rabies infected dog transmitting Rabies virus causing rabies in humans), contaminated food and water (e.g. Salmonella typhi causing Typhoid Fever).
Diseases can also be caused by poor diets, hormonal imbalance, lack of exercise etc.