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Village Healthcare
What Every Family in West Africa Should Know About Health and Healing
1.04 What Causes Sickness?
For a healthy person to become sick there has to be something that attacks the body or something in the body that is destroying itself. There are many things that can cause sickness, both physical and spiritual things. They all work differently, but can all do a lot of damage to the body.
Cause of Sickness #1: Bacteria
Bacteria are so small that you could fit one thousand of them on a single grain of rice.
There are both good and bad bacteria. Our bodies need the good bacteria to help the
intestines digest food and also to fight against bad fungus. But the bad bacteria
can be very harmful to our bodies. They create toxins (poisons) that damage the cells
in our body and make the body sick.
Antibiotic medicines can kill bacteria. But bacteria are able to change and adapt to their surroundings, so if we are not careful with how we use antibiotic medicines, the bacteria can become used to the medicines so the medicine will no longer work in fighting against the bacteria. This can happen if the antibiotic is used too much, or if a person only takes some of the medicine and does not take the full amount required. Not taking the medicine properly will cause the bacteria to become resistant to it, which means the medicine will not be able to kill the bacteria anymore.
Since bacteria can build a resistance to the antibiotics, it is important to take the medicine properly and not use antibiotics too often.
Another reason why antibiotics should not be used very often is because the antibiotics do not only kill the bad bacteria but they also kill all the good bacteria in your body. Your body needs good bacteria to fight against bad fungi, so if you kill all the good bacteria in your body you can cause other health problems that can be much harder to cure.
Some common sicknesses caused by bacteria include: Pneumonia (page___), Strep Throat (page___), Staph Infection (page___), . . . .list more!!
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Cause of Sickness #2: Viruses
Viruses are even smaller than bacteria. A virus cannot work by itself, it needs to be inside of a living cell in order to grow and reproduce. Most viruses cannot survive without a living thing like a plant, animal, or person to live off of.
When viruses get inside a person's body they attack the person's cells. The virus
takes control of the cell and tells it to stop doing its normal work and to start
working for the virus instead. Inside the cell, the virus begins making more viruses
that then go out and attack other cells and continue reproducing. Viruses can spread
very quickly through the body, making you feel sick all over.
Antibiotics do NOT work for killing viruses. Most often, modern medicine is not needed in fighting against viruses. Your body's immune system is fully able to fight against most viruses. You only get sick from viruses if your immune system is weak. So if you have a sickness that is caused by viruses, do NOT take modern medicine. Instead, work at strengthening your immune system so that it can be strong enough to fight against the virus. See page ___ for information on how to strengthen your immune system.
There are, however, some serious virus infections, like the HIV virus (AIDS), where
the virus can damage the immune system so severely that it cannot be repaired. In
these more serious cases a doctor might prescribe anti-
Some common illnesses caused by viruses include: Cold & Flu (page___), . . .list more!!
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Cause of Sickness #3: Fungi
There are many types of fungi. Mushrooms are fungi. The mold that grows on spoiling food is fungi. Even the yeast that is used for making bread is fungi. Fungi does not need to be bad as long as the body has what it needs to keep the fungi under control.
Fungi likes warm, wet, and dark places. Most infections caused by fungi attack only the outer layer of skin. It is not usually dangerous, but it can be very difficult to cure.
Fungi that spreads to the inside of the body can be more serious and even deadly.
Some common problems caused by fungi include: Athlete’s Foot (page__), . . .list more!!
Good bacteria fights against bad fungi and keeps the body free from these infections. A person is more likely to get fungal infections after taking antibiotic medicine, because the medicine kills off all the good bacteria so the body does not have any way to fight against the bad fungi.
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Cause of Sickness #4: Parasites
Parasites are small, living animals like worms and amebas. The most common way that parasites enter your body is through food and water that has their eggs in it. The eggs are too small to be seen, but once inside of you, they hatch into parasites that grow and reproduce very quickly, causing a lot of problems for your body. The longer the parasites are in your body the stronger they become, the more damage they can do, and the harder it is to get rid of them.
Some common sickness caused by parasites: Malaria (page___), African Eye Worm (page___), Scabies (page___) . . .list more!
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Cause of Sickness #5: Nutrient Deficiency
There are many different nutrients that your body needs, nutrients that are found primarily in the foods you eat.
Nutrients help the body to work well and to be strong and healthy. A deficiency is when your body does not have enough of something that it needs. The body can become sick and have many different health problems if it does not have the nutrition that it needs.
Some common problems caused by deficiencies include: Malnutrition (page__), Pellagra (page___), . . .list more!!
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Cause of Sickness #6: Dehydration
Dehydration is another type of “deficiency” that occurs when your body does not have enough water.
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Cause of Sickness #7: Stress
Stress is your body's response to different situations in your life, especially situations that are unexpected, or that bring change in your life, or situations where you feel that you need to act or do something that is difficult for you.
Different situations can cause different amounts of stress. You will have a larger amount of stress if the situation feels overwhelming or out of your control. For example, when a family member dies, this can cause a lot of stress.
Other situations can include having to travel or moving to live in a new location, losing your crops to a drought, or not having enough money to provide for your family.
Stress can also occur in smaller situations, like a mother who is trying to prepare a meal for the family while her child is crying and wanting to eat, or a student who is studying to take a test and feeling stress about passing the test.
Another common situation that can cause stress is when you have a job or work that you are not trained to do. Many people who get trained for a job do not actually end up doing that line of work. For example, someone who is trained as a teacher cannot get a teaching job, so they settle for something else that they are not trained in. When you are not trained for the job or don’t enjoy the work you do, it can be very stressful.
God created us with certain gifts and passions. When you do the work that you are interested in and gifted in, you feel more alive and fulfilled in the work, and experience much less stress. More than just getting a job for the money, it is good to aim to use the gifts and interests God has given you.
Stress is a normal part of life, and God has made our bodies to be able to handle a certain amount of stress without suffering from it. But too much stress can cause serious health problems or can make existing health problems worse.
One thing you need to know about stress is that it builds up, very much like stacking bricks on top of each other.
When your body feels stress, it needs time to calm down and recover from the stress before it is faced with more stress. Rest, sleep, laughter, celebration, quiet, and prayer, are all things that can help your body recover from stress.
If you do not take time for rest, celebration, or prayer, the bricks of stress in your life will keep building until they finally fall over and make you sick.
Some common problems that can be caused by stress: Weak Immune System (page___), Heart Attack (page___), Malabsorption (page___), . . .list more!
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Cause of Sickness #8: Disobedience to God
Sin is very easily understood as being disobedient to God. The Bible tells us that we have all sinned. Every time we disobey God or do something that is against what He says in His Word, we are guilty of sin.
If you do not confess the sin and receive forgiveness from God, then those sins remain
in you and continue to affect both your spiritual being and your physical health.
The longer the sin remains a problem in your life, the more damage it does to your spirit, by separating you from God and damaging your conscience.
If the sin remains in your body, it begins to affect your physical body as well, weakening your immune system and making it more likely for you to get sick.
When you know you have a problem with a particular sin, and you keep doing it over and over again, this is what is called a "Stronghold of Sin". That particular sin holds you in bondage and keeps you like a slave to it.
Only Jesus can set you free from strongholds of sin, through prayer, confession, and repentance. See page___.
Some problems and sicknesses that can be caused by sin: Weak Immune System (page___), AIDS (page___), . . .list more!!
<<More info on strongholds of sin>>
Psalm 32:3-
Psalm 41:4 -
Psalm 38:4 (??) -
Deuteronomy 28:15,21 -
Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
(John 5:14)
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Cause of Sickness #9: Unforgiveness
Unforgiveness is like a mango that is full of worms. On the outside it looks nice, but on the inside the fruit is rotten and bad. Unforgiveness is also very harmful to our bodies. If there is someone you have not forgiven, the grudge you have against them also affects your body and slowly damages your health over time.
God's word tells us that we need to forgive the sins of others or we will not be forgiven for our sins. So not only does your body suffer when you hold a grudge against someone, but it also suffers from the effects of your own sins that continue to attack your body because they cannot be forgiven as long as you are holding that grudge.
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Cause of Sickness #10: Negative Emotions
Your feelings can have a lot of influence on your physical health. Good feelings, like joy, peace, hope, and love, all have a positive effect on your body and encourage good health. Positive emotions create hormones in the body that help to heal the body and get rid of pain. Just like God says in His Word, “a joyful heart is good medicine”.
<<give Bible verse on joyful heart being good medicine>>
Proverbs 17:22 -
Proverbs 14:30 -
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
(Proverbs 13:12)
On the contrary, negative feelings are bad for your body and can destroy your health. Feelings like jealousy, anger, bitterness, hate, and guilt create hormones that cause stress and other problems in your body that can lead to different health problem.
One example would be the emotion of anger. It is much more than just an emotional feeling, when you feel angry you also feel physical effects of that anger. You can feel your muscles tighten and your body grow tense. Anger is an emotion that affects the muscles of the body.
Other emotions affect other parts of the body. Negative emotions can have a very serious effect on a person’s health. Some emotions can even cause your immune system to begin attacking your own body.
Some problems that can be caused by negative emotions: Malabsorption (page___), . . .list more!!
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Cause of Sickness #11: Fear and Worry
We are all affected by fear and worry in life and these two emotions are often found together. Being afraid of something often leads you to worry about it. It seems perfectly natural to be afraid or to worry, but it can also be very harmful to your body.
Fear and worry can cause many serious illnesses and health problems. So it should be no surprise to us that the Bible is full of warnings against being afraid or worrying.
<<Bible verses -
Sometimes it feels like we don't have any control over these feelings, they just happen. The Bible tells us not to be afraid and not to worry. This means that we do have control over it. In spite of what you may think, you CAN control your fear and worry by giving them over to Jesus. When you understand that God is in control of all things, and you believe that He loves you and wants only what is best for you, then His perfect love drives away fear.
<<Bible verses -
Another important thing to know about fear and worry is that Satan often uses these emotions to control you. Fear and worry open doors for him to harm you. If you take a close look at witchcraft, sorcery, spells, and curses, you will find that the main thing behind them all is fear. They are all meant to make you afraid. And when you are afraid, Satan is able to use them to control you and harm you.
Some sicknesses and problems that can be caused by fear and worry: . . . .list some!!
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Cause of Sickness #12: Destructive Habits and Addictions
Destructive habits are things you often do that are harmful to your body. Addictions are things that control you, cravings you have of things you think you cannot live without. Destructive habits and addictions include things like smoking, drinking alcohol, taking drugs, looking at pornography, and sleeping around.
Destructive habits and addictions come as a result of spiritual sin or emotional problems. To overcome destructive habits and addictions, the person needs to first accept the fact that they have a problem, they need to make a decision to put a stop to it, and they need to turn to God for help and allow Him to address the spiritual sin or emotional issue that lies at the root of the problem.
Illustration of a plant. . . .problem is at the root structure. . .the plant suffers as a result.
Some sicknesses or problems caused by destructive habits and addictions: Enlarged Liver ( page___), Hepatitis (page___), AIDS (page___), . . . .list more!!
Some of the habits that people have not only damage their own health but in one way or another harm those around them. Many of these habits can be broken or avoided but the first step is to understand why breaking these habits is so important.
<<have a page on how to address/break free of bad habits>>
ALCOHOL
<<need to re-
A little alcohol now and then may do no harm, but far too often “a little” leads
to a lot. Heavy or excessive drinking is one of the underlying causes of major health
problems, such as Enlarged Liver (page___) and Hepatitis (page___). But many times
it can be the reason why family members are also getting sick, because money is being
spent on drinking instead of buying nutritious food and improving the family's living
conditions.
But not only can drunkenness harm the health of those who drink, but it also hurts
the family and community in many ways. It leads to unhappiness, violence, the loss
of self-
Alcoholism is not so much a problem of individuals as of a whole community. A community that recognizes this can do much to encourage those who are willing to make changes.
SMOKING
<<Re-
Smoking is very dangerous to your health. Smoking can cause cancer of the lungs, mouth, throat, and lips. The more you smoke, the greater the chance of dying of cancer.
Smoking causes serious diseases of the lungs, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It can cause stomach ulcers or make them worse. It can increase your chance of suffering or dying from heart disease or stroke.
Children whose parents smoke have more cases of pneumonia and other respiratory illness than children whose parents do not smoke, and babies of mothers who smoked during pregnancy are smaller and develop more slowly than babies whose mothers did not smoke.
JUNK FOOD
<<Take out the following paragraph??? -
Eating processed foods is very bad for your body. Having junk food on a rare occasion as a snack or special treat can be fine, but people who are in the habit of eating junk foods regularly, or people who drink lots of sugary drinks are harming their bodies. Too much sugar or junk food will make your body's immune system weak so that it can no longer fight of germs and infections the way it needs to. (see page___ for more information)
BAD EATING HABITS
<<trouble with obesity, anorexia, higher risks of disease, etc . . .>>
DRUGS
<<including medicine that is taken wrong!!>>
SEXUAL IMMORALITY
Only having sex with one partner, within the safe-
People who sleep around or have multiple sex partners are in danger of catching a number of different serious diseases. STD's and AIDS are very terrible diseases that damage the body and can lead to great sickness, infertility, problems with pregnancies, a compromised immune system, and even death.
<<List Bible verses that address this topic. . . .any other sin is outside, but sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. . . .honor God with your body.>>
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Cause of Sickness #13 Curses and Magic Spells
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Cause of Sickness #14: Dabbling with Satanic Powers
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Cause of Sickness#15: Idolatry
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Cause of Sickness #16: Hereditary
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Cause of Sickness #17: Profaning the Lord’s Sacraments
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Germs
Germs are things that are so small you cannot see them without the use of a special tool, called a microscope.
Germs live everywhere! They are in the air, on food, on plants, on the ground, in
the water, in animals -
Your immune system protects you from most of the germs around you, but some germs can overwhelm the immune system and grow too strong for your body to fight against them.
There are many kinds of germs in the world, but the ones that you need to be most aware of are: bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.
Differences Between Bacteria and Viruses