129 Medicine Trivia Questions and Answers
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Easy Medicine Trivia Questions
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Which specialist would you see about a problem with your feet?
A podiatrist
A podiatrist diagnoses and treats conditions of the foot, ankle and lower leg, from bunions and ingrown nails to the foot complications of diabetes. In Britain the same practitioners were long called chiropodists, and the two titles now mean the same thing.
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Which device can analyze rhythm and deliver a shock during cardiac arrest?
AED
An automated external defibrillator (AED) analyzes heart rhythm and can deliver an electrical shock when appropriate.
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What term describes a rapid, severe allergic reaction?
Anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis is a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction requiring emergency care.
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What does anemia commonly reduce the blood's ability to carry?
Oxygen
Anemia commonly reduces the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity because of reduced hemoglobin or red blood cells.
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What blocks all sensation, not just pain, during many operations?
Anesthesia
Anesthesia is used to block or reduce sensation, especially pain, during medical procedures. General anesthesia can make a person unconscious, while local anesthesia numbs only a specific area.
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Which medicine is taken to relieve heartburn and indigestion?
Antacid
Antacids are medicines that neutralize stomach acid and can relieve heartburn or indigestion.
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What is the name for a foreign molecule that triggers an immune response and gets bound by antibodies?
Antigen
An antigen is anything the immune system reads as foreign and reacts to, most often a protein on the surface of a virus, bacterium or pollen grain. Rapid antigen tests work by using antibodies to catch exactly those surface proteins.
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Which medicine is commonly used to relieve allergy symptoms?
Antihistamine
Antihistamines block the effects of histamine and are commonly used for symptoms of allergies.
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Sneezing, itching and a runny nose in hay fever are mostly caused by one chemical the body releases. Which?
Histamine
Histamine is released by mast cells when the immune system overreacts to something harmless like pollen. It makes small blood vessels leak and nerve endings fire, producing the sneezing, itching and streaming eyes of hay fever, and antihistamine tablets work by blocking it at its receptors.
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In antimicrobial resistance, what is it that changes so the medicine stops working?
The germs develop changes
Resistance happens in the germ, not the patient. Bacteria and fungi pick up changes that let them survive a drug, then pass those changes on as they multiply, so the same medicine no longer clears the infection in anyone who catches that strain.
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Which disease involves recurring narrowing and inflammation of airways?
Asthma
Asthma causes episodes of airway inflammation and narrowing.
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What is a procedure that removes tissue for laboratory examination?
Biopsy
A biopsy removes cells or tissue for examination by a pathologist, often using microscopy or other tests.
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Which genes are strongly associated with inherited breast and ovarian cancer risk?
BRCA1 and BRCA2
Inherited harmful variants in BRCA1 or BRCA2 can increase breast and ovarian cancer risk.
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What eye condition clouds the natural lens?
Cataract
A cataract is clouding of the eye's normally clear lens.
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Which US federal agency tracks disease outbreaks and works to prevent them?
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, headquartered in Atlanta, monitors outbreaks, runs the national disease surveillance system and issues US public health guidance.
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Cholera is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. How does it usually reach people?
In water contaminated with sewage
Vibrio cholerae spreads through drinking water and food contaminated by infected faeces, which is why outbreaks follow floods, war and broken sanitation. John Snow proved the water link in 1854 by tracing a deadly Soho outbreak to a single public pump.
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Which procedure lets clinicians view the inside of the large intestine?
Colonoscopy
Colonoscopy uses a flexible camera to examine the colon and rectum.
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What does the abbreviation COPD stand for?
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
COPD is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a long-term lung condition, most often caused by smoking, in which the airways narrow and airflow out of the lungs is permanently limited. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis both sit under the term.
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What emergency procedure uses chest compressions to circulate blood?
CPR
The American Heart Association recommends a pace of 100 to 120 compressions per minute, about the tempo of the Bee Gees song Stayin Alive, which trainers sometimes use to help rescuers keep count.
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Dehydration means the body has lost too much what?
Fluid
Dehydration happens when the body loses more fluid than it takes in, leaving it without enough water to function normally. It can result from sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, or simply not drinking enough.
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What treatment is used to remove waste from the blood after kidney failure?
Dialysis
Dialysis filters waste products and excess fluid out of the blood when the kidneys can no longer do it, either by pumping blood through a machine or by using the lining of the abdomen as the filter.
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What chromosomal condition is also called Down syndrome?
Trisomy 21
Down syndrome results from an extra copy of chromosome 21.
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What does an ECG record?
The heart's electrical activity
An electrocardiogram, also called an EKG, detects and records the electrical activity of the heart.
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What type of skin problem is eczema?
An inflammatory condition
The most common form, atopic dermatitis, often begins in infancy and is linked to a weakened skin barrier that lets moisture out and irritants in. It frequently runs alongside asthma and hay fever, a pattern doctors call the atopic march.
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What test records electrical activity in the brain?
EEG
An electroencephalogram records electrical activity in the brain.
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What should go on a small heat burn first?
Cool running water
Hold a minor burn under cool, not ice-cold, running water for about 20 minutes. Skin keeps cooking after the heat source is gone, and the water draws that heat back out and limits how deep the damage runs. Gel, dressings and ointment come afterwards, not instead.
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During a nosebleed, which direction should a person lean?
Forward
Leaning forward helps blood drain out rather than being swallowed; gentle pressure on the soft part of the nose is also commonly advised.
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Which profession did Florence Nightingale help professionalize?
Modern nursing
Florence Nightingale is widely associated with professionalizing modern nursing and improving hospital sanitation and organization.
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Which supplement helps prevent neural tube defects during pregnancy?
Folic acid
Adequate folic acid before and during early pregnancy helps prevent neural tube defects.
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Which eye disease can damage the optic nerve?
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can damage the optic nerve.
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What term describes population protection when enough people are immune?
Herd immunity
Herd immunity is resistance of a group to an infectious agent when a high proportion of its members are immune, reducing spread and protecting susceptible people.
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Which virus causes most cervical cancers?
Human papillomavirus
Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus causes most cervical cancers.
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Ibuprofen belongs to which class of medicines?
NSAID
Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID.
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What type of infectious agent causes influenza?
Virus
Influenza, commonly called flu, is caused by influenza viruses.
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Which hormone allows glucose to pass from the blood into the body's cells?
Insulin
Beta cells in the pancreas release insulin after a meal, and muscle, fat and liver cells then take glucose out of the blood for fuel or storage. Glucagon, adrenaline and cortisol all push blood glucose the other way, up.
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In a hospital, what does ICU stand for?
Intensive care unit
An intensive care unit provides continuous monitoring and life support for the most seriously ill patients.
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Which organs filter wastes from the blood to form urine?
Kidneys
The kidneys filter blood, remove wastes and extra water, and produce urine while helping regulate fluid and mineral balance.
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Which cancer begins in blood-forming tissue?
Leukemia
Leukemia is a cancer of blood-forming tissues, including bone marrow.
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Which organs exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the blood?
Lungs
In the lungs, oxygen moves into blood and carbon dioxide moves out at tiny air sacs called alveoli.
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Which parasite causes malaria?
Plasmodium
Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites transmitted by infected mosquitoes.
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What imaging test uses low-dose X-rays to examine breast tissue?
Mammogram
A mammogram is an X-ray image of the breast used in breast health evaluation.
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What type of disorder is a migraine?
Neurological condition
WHO classifies migraine among primary headache disorders, which are neurological disorders.
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Morphine was named after which Greek god of dreams?
Morpheus
Morpheus shaped the human figures that appear in dreams. The German chemist Friedrich Serturner, who first isolated the drug from opium, named it after him.
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Which diagnostic scan uses a strong field and radio waves?
Magnetic resonance imaging
This scan uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to produce detailed body images.
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In the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, which molecule carries the instructions for making the antigen?
Messenger RNA
The injection delivers messenger RNA wrapped in a fatty bubble. It carries the recipe for the coronavirus spike protein, the body's own cells read it and build that protein, and the immune system learns to recognise it. The messenger RNA itself is broken down within a few days and never enters the cell nucleus.
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Morphine is a member of which class of pain medicine?
Opioids
Morphine is extracted from the opium poppy and, like codeine, oxycodone and heroin, works by locking onto opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord to blunt the perception of pain. NSAIDs such as ibuprofen work in a completely different way, by damping the inflammation that produces the pain signal in the first place.
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What is the standard first-line treatment for dehydration caused by diarrhoeal illness?
Oral rehydration solution
Oral rehydration solution is nothing more than salt and sugar dissolved in clean water, but the proportions matter: glucose drags sodium across the gut wall, and water follows the sodium, so fluid is absorbed even while the gut is inflamed. It costs pennies a sachet and is credited with saving tens of millions of children's lives.
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Which condition is marked by wear-related loss of joint cartilage?
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis involves degeneration of cartilage and other joint tissues.
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Which organ releases many digestive enzymes into the small intestine?
Pancreas
The pancreas releases digestive juice containing many enzymes into the small intestine. The other options are real digestive organs but do not perform this specific function.
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Which neurons are lost in the substantia nigra in Parkinson's disease?
Dopamine-producing neurons
Parkinson's disease involves loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra.
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What type of medicine is penicillin?
An antibiotic
Penicillin is an antibiotic used against susceptible bacterial infections.
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Which scan uses a radioactive tracer to show tissue activity?
Positron emission tomography
PET uses radioactive tracers to show metabolic or other activity in tissues.
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What organ mediates exchange between maternal and fetal blood during pregnancy?
Placenta
The placenta mediates exchange of oxygen, nutrients, and wastes between maternal and fetal blood without normally mixing the two blood supplies directly.
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How is psoriasis classified medically?
Inflammatory skin condition
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin condition caused by an overactive immune response that speeds up skin-cell growth. It can also affect the joints, causing psoriatic arthritis.
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Which device estimates blood oxygen saturation through a fingertip?
Pulse oximeter
A pulse oximeter is a small device that estimates blood oxygen saturation and pulse rate, often through a fingertip.
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What is a radiograph?
X-ray image
A radiograph is an image made using X-rays, often used to examine bones and other internal structures.
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Sickle cell disease is classed as what kind of inherited disorder?
A blood disorder
A single change in the beta-globin gene alters hemoglobin so that red blood cells stiffen into a crescent shape. Those cells snag in small blood vessels and are broken down early, which brings on the bouts of severe pain and the anemia the disease is known for.
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Which structures protect organs such as the brain and heart?
Bones
Bones form the skeleton, support the body, and protect organs such as the brain in the skull and the heart and lungs in the rib cage.
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Which human infectious disease has been eradicated worldwide?
Smallpox
In 1980, the World Health Organization declared smallpox eradicated; it remains the only human infectious disease to have been eradicated worldwide.
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Smoking substantially raises the risk of which malignancy?
Lung cancer
Smoking substantially increases the risk of lung cancer by damaging lung cells with cancer-causing chemicals. Quitting lowers that risk over time, even for people who have smoked for many years.
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What instrument measures the volume of air a person breathes?
Spirometer
A spirometer measures how much air a person breathes in and out, helping assess lung function. It can also record how quickly the air is moved during breathing.
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Which drug class lowers LDL cholesterol?
Statins
Statins reduce cholesterol production in the liver and lower LDL cholesterol.
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Which instrument is used to listen to heart and lung sounds?
Stethoscope
A stethoscope transmits and amplifies internal body sounds such as heartbeats and breath sounds.
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Which acronym helps recognize common stroke warning signs?
FAST
FAST refers to facial drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, and time to seek emergency help.
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Sunlight helps the body produce which nutrient?
Vitamin D
UVB light striking the skin converts a cholesterol derivative into vitamin D, which the body needs in order to absorb calcium and keep bones strong. Very little food supplies it naturally, oily fish being the main exception, which is why deficiency is common through long dark winters and why rickets was once a disease of smoggy industrial cities.
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Which lymphocyte subtype coordinates defenses and attacks infected targets?
T cells
T cells coordinate immune responses and directly attack infected targets. The alternatives are genuine lymphocyte types with different primary roles.
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What type of infectious agent causes tetanus?
Bacterium
Tetanus is caused by toxins made by the bacterium Clostridium tetani.
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A chiropodist treats which part of the body?
The feet
A chiropodist, also called a podiatrist, treats the feet: nails, corns, bunions and problems with walking. The name mixes the Greek words for hand and foot, from a time when the trade covered both.
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Which element is required to make thyroid hormones?
Iodine
Its two main hormones are named for their iodine count: thyroxine, or T4, carries four iodine atoms, and triiodothyronine, or T3, carries three. Iodized table salt, introduced in the United States in the 1920s, made severe iodine deficiency and the goiter it causes far less common.
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Which science studies poisons and the harm that substances do to living things?
Toxicology
Toxicology measures how harmful a substance is and at what quantity, which is why its founding idea, credited to the 16th-century physician Paracelsus, is that the dose makes the poison. Almost anything is toxic in a large enough amount, water included.
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On arrival at an emergency department, what process assigns each patient a priority level?
Triage
Triage is the process of assessing patients and assigning priority based on how urgently they need care. It helps emergency departments treat the most seriously ill or injured patients first, rather than simply seeing people in arrival order.
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Autoimmune loss of the pancreas's beta cells causes which condition?
Type 1 diabetes
In type 1 diabetes the immune system attacks and destroys the beta cells of the pancreas, the only cells that make insulin. The body is then left with little or none, so insulin must be taken for life. Onset is usually in childhood or early adulthood.
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What is the key metabolic problem in type 2 diabetes?
Cells respond poorly to the insulin the body makes
Type 2 diabetes starts with insulin resistance: muscle, fat and liver cells stop responding normally to insulin, so glucose is not taken out of the blood as it should be. The pancreas compensates by making more and more insulin, and blood sugar rises once it can no longer keep up.
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Which imaging method produces the familiar grainy scans of a baby in the womb?
Ultrasound
Ultrasound builds its pictures from high-frequency sound pulses bounced off tissue. Because it uses no ionising radiation, it is the standard way to check on a baby before birth.
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What do vaccines help the immune system produce to fight a specific disease?
Antibodies
Vaccines train the immune system to produce antibodies that recognize and help fight a specific disease. They also create immune memory, allowing a faster response if the pathogen is encountered later.
Medium Medicine Trivia Questions
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A dentist who specializes in treating gum disease is called what?
A periodontist
Periodontics covers the gums and the bone that holds the teeth in place, treating conditions such as gingivitis and periodontitis. Orthodontics straightens teeth and corrects the bite, endodontics treats the inside of the tooth including root canals, and prosthodontics makes crowns, bridges and dentures.
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Among eye professionals, which one is a medical doctor qualified to perform surgery?
An ophthalmologist
An ophthalmologist is a physician who has specialised in the eye and trained in eye surgery, operating on cataracts for example. An optometrist examines eyes and prescribes lenses, an optician makes up and fits the glasses, and an orthoptist treats problems of eye movement and alignment such as a squint.
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Which white blood cells mature into the plasma cells that make antibodies?
B cells
A B cell that meets its target turns into a plasma cell, an antibody factory that can pump out thousands of identical antibody molecules a second. Some plasma cells settle in the bone marrow and keep producing antibodies for years, which is why immunity to some infections lasts a lifetime.
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What agent is used on living tissue to inhibit microorganisms?
Antiseptic
An antiseptic is used on living tissue, such as skin, to inhibit or destroy microorganisms. Unlike disinfectants, which are intended for nonliving surfaces, antiseptics are formulated for use on the body.
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Which drug class can slow the heart by reducing adrenaline's effects?
Beta blockers
Beta blockers slow the heart by blocking adrenaline’s effects on beta receptors. They are also used to help control high blood pressure and abnormal heart rhythms.
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The inflatable cuff wrapped around the arm to take a blood pressure reading is part of an instrument with what name?
Sphygmomanometer
The cuff, bulb and gauge together make up a sphygmomanometer, from the Greek sphygmos, meaning pulse. Inflating the cuff squeezes the artery in the upper arm shut; the pressure at which blood starts forcing its way through again is the systolic reading, and the pressure at which it flows freely is the diastolic.
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What does the CT in a CT scan stand for?
Computed tomography
Computed tomography combines many X-ray images taken from different angles into cross-sectional slices. Tomography comes from the Greek for 'slice'.
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Which inherited disease affects mucus and is caused by CFTR variants?
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disorder caused by variants in the CFTR gene.
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Which phobia is the only one commonly associated with fainting?
Fear of blood and injections
Most phobias raise heart rate and blood pressure. Blood-injection-injury phobia produces a two-stage response where both then drop sharply, which can cause fainting.
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Which inherited bleeding disorder is caused by deficient clotting factor VIII or IX?
Hemophilia
Hemophilia results from deficiency of clotting factor VIII or IX. The other options are distinct inherited bleeding disorders.
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HIV primarily attacks which type of immune cell?
CD4 T lymphocytes
HIV primarily attacks CD4 T lymphocytes, which help coordinate the body’s immune response. As these cells are damaged or depleted, the immune system becomes less able to fight infections.
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What epidemiological term counts new cases in a population over time?
Incidence
Incidence measures new cases occurring in a population during a specified period.
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What genetic laboratory test arranges a person's chromosomes by size and shape?
Karyotype
A karyotype is a photographed set of a person's chromosomes, cut out and laid in pairs by size and banding pattern. Anything missing, extra or rearranged shows up at a glance, including the extra copy of chromosome 21 that causes Down syndrome.
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Which bacterium causes the disease once known as consumption?
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Robert Koch identified Mycobacterium tuberculosis as the cause of tuberculosis in 1882. The slow-growing bacterium usually attacks the lungs and spreads through the air when an infected person coughs.
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Which technique examines the abdomen with a camera passed through small cuts?
Laparoscopy
Laparoscopy uses a thin lighted tube called a laparoscope, slid in through cuts about a centimetre wide, to see inside the abdomen. Surgeons use it both to diagnose and to operate, with far less scarring than opening the abdomen fully.
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What is the spread of cancer from its original site to another part of the body called?
Metastasis
Metastasis is cancer spreading from the original tumour to a new site, and it is what makes most cancers dangerous.
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Which genetic transmission pattern usually follows the mother's lineage?
Mitochondrial inheritance
Mitochondrial inheritance usually follows the mother’s lineage because the egg supplies nearly all of an embryo’s mitochondria. Both sons and daughters can inherit mitochondrial DNA, but only daughters typically pass it on to their children.
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Which mosquito genus transmits malaria?
Anopheles mosquitoes
Female Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria parasites to people.
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Multiple sclerosis primarily damages which tissue?
Myelin in the central nervous system
Multiple sclerosis is an immune-mediated disease that primarily damages myelin in the central nervous system.
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Which condition is defined by decreased bone mass and deteriorating bone tissue?
Osteoporosis
In osteoporosis there is simply less bone. What remains is normally mineralised, but the honeycomb lattice inside thins and its struts snap, so a minor fall can break a wrist, hip or vertebra. That distinguishes it from osteomalacia, where there is enough bone but it is soft, because a lack of vitamin D has left it under-mineralised.
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Which implant helps maintain a regular heartbeat?
Pacemaker
A pacemaker sits under the skin and sends small electrical impulses to the heart when its own rhythm is too slow or irregular.
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Which laboratory method amplifies selected DNA sequences?
Polymerase chain reaction
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplifies selected DNA sequences by repeatedly copying them through controlled heating and cooling cycles. Starting with a tiny sample, PCR can produce millions of copies of a target sequence.
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In an outbreak, what does the basic reproduction number, R0, measure?
The average number of new people one case infects
R0 is the average number of people each infected person goes on to infect when nobody around them is immune. Above 1 an outbreak grows, below 1 it fades out. Seasonal flu sits close to 1.3; measles, one of the most infectious diseases known, is usually put in the range of 12 to 18.
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Which condition is a life-threatening reaction to an infection that can lead to organ failure?
Sepsis
Sepsis is the body's own overwhelming response to an infection, and it can damage organs faster than the infection itself.
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Which organ absorbs most nutrients from digested food?
Small intestine
Most absorption happens across the small intestine's lining; the large intestine mainly reclaims water and salts.
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In the United States, what is the leading cause of lung cancer among people who have never smoked?
Radon exposure
Radon is a colourless radioactive gas given off as uranium in rock and soil breaks down. It seeps into buildings through cracks in the foundations and builds up in basements and ground-floor rooms, and it is measured with a cheap test kit and dealt with by venting the ground under the floor.
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Vaccination leaves behind long-lived cells that still recognise a pathogen years later. What is this called?
Immunological memory
Memory B cells can churn out antibodies almost immediately, and memory T cells are already primed to destroy infected cells, often clearing a second exposure before it causes symptoms. That is also why protection can last for decades even after circulating antibody levels have faded.
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Which nutrient is required for collagen production?
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is required for collagen biosynthesis, and severe deficiency causes scurvy.
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Which vitamin is essential for normal blood clotting?
Vitamin K
Vitamin K is required to make several of the clotting factors, which is why newborns are routinely given a dose at birth.
Hard Medicine Trivia Questions
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Karl Landsteiner won the 1930 Nobel Prize for discovering which blood-group system?
ABO
Landsteiner's ABO system explained why some transfusions killed patients and others worked; he went on to co-discover the Rh factor years later.
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What is a bulging, weakened area in an artery wall called?
Aneurysm
An aneurysm is a balloon-like bulge where an artery wall has weakened; stenosis is narrowing, and thrombosis is a clot.
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A condition appears in every generation of a family, and affected fathers pass it to sons as well as daughters. Which inheritance pattern is this?
Autosomal dominant inheritance
An autosomal dominant condition needs only one altered copy of a gene on a non-sex chromosome, so either parent can pass it to a child of either sex. Father-to-son transmission is the giveaway: a father gives his son a Y chromosome, never his X, so an X-linked condition can never travel that way.
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What bacterial process do beta-lactam antibiotics disrupt?
Bacterial cell-wall synthesis
Beta-lactam antibiotics inhibit bacterial cell-wall synthesis, weakening susceptible bacteria.
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Breast milk passes the mother's antibodies to her baby. Which class of antibody is by far the most abundant in human milk?
IgA
Human milk is dominated by secretory IgA, an antibody built to survive in the gut. It coats the lining of the baby's intestines and airways and stops bacteria and viruses from getting a grip, rather than killing them outright. It is thickest in colostrum, the yellowish first milk of the days right after birth.
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A study recruits people who already have a rare disease, plus similar people who do not, then looks back at what each group was exposed to. What is that design called?
Case-control study
A case-control study starts from the outcome: it takes people who already have the disease, matches them against people who do not, and works backwards through their histories. Because it does not have to wait years for cases to appear, it is the standard way to study rare diseases.
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What epidemiological measure gives the fraction of diagnosed patients who die from a disease?
Case-fatality proportion
The case-fatality proportion is the fraction of diagnosed people with a disease who die from it. It reflects how deadly the disease is among identified cases, rather than how common it is in the overall population.
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The Philadelphia chromosome is a hallmark of which cancer?
Chronic myeloid leukemia
Nearly all cases carry the Philadelphia chromosome, formed when chromosomes 9 and 22 swap material and fuse two genes into one that drives the disease. Targeting the resulting protein with imatinib in 2001 became one of the first successful precision cancer therapies.
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Which blood-protein system can tag microbes for immune clearance?
Complement system
Complement proteins can opsonize microbes for phagocytosis and contribute to membrane damage and inflammation.
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Which operation creates a new route around blocked coronary arteries?
Coronary bypass grafting
Bypass grafting takes a vessel from elsewhere in the body to route blood around a blockage; angioplasty and stents instead reopen the original artery.
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Which condition involves tissue resembling the uterine lining growing outside the uterus?
Endometriosis
In endometriosis, tissue like the uterine lining grows outside the uterus; in adenomyosis it grows into the uterine muscle instead.
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What does aquaphobia name?
Fear of water
Aquaphobia is a fear of water itself, and is distinct from hydrophobia, an old name for rabies describing the difficulty swallowing that the disease causes.
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What was Christiaan Barnard's landmark 1967 operation?
First human heart transplant
Barnard's team in Cape Town performed the first human-to-human heart transplant in December 1967; the patient lived 18 days.
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Which global health partnership, founded in 2000, exists to get childhood immunisation into the world's poorest countries?
Gavi
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, pools money from governments, foundations and the private sector to buy vaccines in bulk for lower-income countries. Guaranteeing manufacturers a large long-term order pushes the price per dose down far enough for those countries to run national immunisation programmes they could not otherwise afford.
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What measure did Ignaz Semmelweis champion in maternity wards?
Handwashing
Semmelweis had doctors wash their hands in chlorinated lime before examining mothers, and deaths from childbed fever fell sharply, yet his colleagues rejected the idea.
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Which bacterium is strongly linked to peptic ulcers?
Helicobacter pylori
Helicobacter pylori causes most peptic ulcers. This finding was so unexpected that one of its discoverers drank a culture of it to prove the point.
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The HeLa cell line, the first immortal human cell line, was taken without consent in 1951 from which woman?
Henrietta Lacks
Cells from Henrietta Lacks's cervical tumour kept dividing indefinitely in culture and have been used in research ever since, without her knowledge or her family's.
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Which disease is classically associated with a bull's-eye rash after a tick bite?
Lyme disease
The spreading rash of early Lyme disease, erythema migrans, often clears in the centre and takes on a target shape.
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What process does metformin primarily reduce in type 2 diabetes?
Hepatic glucose production
Metformin primarily lowers blood glucose by reducing glucose production by the liver. The alternatives are real glucose-regulation processes targeted by other diabetes treatments.
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Which antibody type is grown from a hybridoma, a single B cell fused with a myeloma cell?
Monoclonal antibodies
Georges Kohler and Cesar Milstein developed the hybridoma technique in 1975 and shared the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for it. Most modern antibody drugs still use their approach, and their generic names end in the suffix -mab.
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In a diagnostic test, what does sensitivity measure?
True positive rate
Sensitivity is the proportion of people who genuinely have a condition and are correctly flagged by the test. A highly sensitive test misses very few real cases, which is why screening tests are tuned for sensitivity first and confirmed later by a second, fussier test.
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Blood tests that look for antibodies left behind by an infection are known collectively as what?
Serology
Serology examines blood serum for antibodies, which is the basis of the antibody tests that became familiar during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Sickle cell disease results from inheriting two copies of which hemoglobin variant?
Hemoglobin S
Two copies of hemoglobin S give the disease. A single copy, paired with normal hemoglobin A, gives sickle cell trait, which usually causes no symptoms at all and carries some protection against malaria, which is why the variant stayed common in regions where malaria is widespread.
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In 1854 John Snow mapped cholera deaths in Soho, London, and had a single object removed to help end the outbreak. What was it?
The handle of a street water pump
Snow's map pointed to the Broad Street pump, and removing its handle stopped people drawing the contaminated water.
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Who published the 1628 work De Motu Cordis?
William Harvey
Harvey's De Motu Cordis showed that blood circulates in a closed loop driven by the heart, overturning centuries of teaching.
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