Nutrition, Diseases and Health Technology
Nutrition, Diseases and Health Technology
Health questions are among the most frequent in NTPC General Science: vitamin deficiency diseases, diseases grouped by the germ that causes them, carriers of disease, and the discoveries behind vaccines and medical machines. These are pure fact matches, so learn the tables in pairs.
1. Vitamins, Minerals and Nutrients
| Nutrient | Deficiency disease or role |
|---|---|
| Vitamin A (retinol) | Night blindness |
| Vitamin B1 (thiamine) | Beriberi |
| Vitamin B3 (niacin) | Pellagra |
| Vitamin B12 | Pernicious anaemia |
| Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) | Scurvy (bleeding gums) |
| Vitamin D (calciferol) | Rickets in children; made in skin in sunlight |
| Vitamin E | Antioxidant; linked to fertility |
| Vitamin K | Blood clotting |
| Iron | Anaemia |
| Iodine | Goitre |
| Calcium | Weak bones and teeth |
| Protein | Kwashiorkor; with energy deficiency, marasmus |
Fat-soluble vitamins: A, D, E, K; water-soluble: B group and C
2. Diseases and Their Causes
| Cause | Diseases |
|---|---|
| Bacteria | Tuberculosis, cholera, typhoid, tetanus, diphtheria, leprosy, plague, whooping cough |
| Viruses | Polio, measles, chickenpox, rabies, dengue, AIDS (HIV), influenza, COVID-19 |
| Protozoa | Malaria (Plasmodium), kala-azar (Leishmania), amoebic dysentery |
| Fungi | Ringworm, athlete's foot |
| Carrier | Disease |
|---|---|
| Female Anopheles mosquito | Malaria |
| Aedes mosquito | Dengue, chikungunya, Zika |
| Culex mosquito | Filariasis |
| Sandfly | Kala-azar |
| Housefly | Typhoid, cholera (carries germs) |
| Rat flea | Plague |
3. Health Technology and Discoveries
| Discovery | By whom |
|---|---|
| Smallpox vaccine | Edward Jenner (1796) |
| Rabies vaccine | Louis Pasteur |
| Polio vaccine (injected) | Jonas Salk; oral vaccine by Albert Sabin |
| Penicillin | Alexander Fleming (1928) |
| Insulin isolated | Frederick Banting and Charles Best (1921) |
| X-rays | Wilhelm Röntgen (1895) |
| Stethoscope | René Laennec |
| BCG vaccine | Against tuberculosis |
| India polio-free | Certified by WHO in 2014 |
| eSanjeevani | National telemedicine service |
| Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission | Digital health IDs (ABHA) for citizens |
✗ Malaria is caused by a virus spread by Aedes | ✓ Malaria is caused by the protozoan Plasmodium, spread by the female Anopheles mosquito
✗ Vitamin C is fat-soluble | ✓ Vitamin C and the B group are water-soluble; A, D, E and K are fat-soluble
हिंदी नोट: विटामिन C की कमी से स्कर्वी, विटामिन D की कमी से रिकेट्स और विटामिन A की कमी से रतौंधी होती है। मलेरिया प्रोटोज़ोआ (प्लाज़्मोडियम) से होता है और मादा एनोफ़िलीज़ मच्छर इसे फैलाता है। पेनिसिलिन की खोज अलेक्ज़ेंडर फ़्लेमिंग ने 1928 में की।
Exam Pointer: Verified NTPC patterns: the vitamin whose lack causes scurvy (April 2016 CBT-1) and a disease caused by protozoa (August 2025 UG CBT-1). Carrier and discovery questions are tagged syllabus-based.
Pariksha Pattern: Every Way NTPC Asks This Topic
Pattern 1: Vitamin and mineral deficiencies
[PYQ: NTPC CBT-1 18-Apr-2016 Shift-2]
EXAM LEVEL
Q. Deficiency of which vitamin causes night blindness?
Vitamin A.
Answer: Vitamin A
EXAMATLAS LEVEL
Q. Match the deficiency with the disease: vitamin B1, vitamin D, iodine, vitamin K.
Lack of vitamin B1 causes beriberi, lack of vitamin D causes rickets, lack of iodine causes goitre, and lack of vitamin K slows blood clotting.
Answer: Beriberi; rickets; goitre; poor clotting
Pattern 2: Diseases by type of pathogen
[PYQ: NTPC UG CBT-1 7-Aug-2025 Shift-2]
EXAM LEVEL
Q. Kala-azar is caused by which type of organism?
A protozoan, Leishmania, spread by the sandfly.
Answer: Protozoan
EXAMATLAS LEVEL
Q. From cholera, measles, ringworm, malaria and tuberculosis, pick one bacterial, one viral, one fungal and one protozoan disease.
Cholera and tuberculosis are bacterial, measles is viral, ringworm is fungal and malaria is protozoan.
Answer: Cholera or TB; measles; ringworm; malaria
Pattern 3: Disease carriers
[Pattern: syllabus-based, PYQ-style]
EXAM LEVEL
Q. Which mosquito spreads dengue?
The Aedes mosquito, which bites mainly in the daytime.
Answer: Aedes
EXAMATLAS LEVEL
Q. Match the carrier with the disease: female Anopheles, Culex, rat flea.
Female Anopheles spreads malaria, Culex spreads filariasis and the rat flea spreads plague.
Answer: Malaria; filariasis; plague
Pattern 4: Vaccines, medicines and medical technology
[Pattern: syllabus-based, PYQ-style]
EXAM LEVEL
Q. Who discovered penicillin?
Alexander Fleming, in 1928.
Answer: Alexander Fleming
EXAMATLAS LEVEL
Q. Who developed the first smallpox vaccine and the rabies vaccine? Which vaccine protects against tuberculosis, and in which year was India certified polio-free?
Edward Jenner made the smallpox vaccine and Louis Pasteur the rabies vaccine. BCG protects against tuberculosis. WHO certified India polio-free in 2014.
Answer: Jenner, Pasteur; BCG; 2014
60-Second Revision
- A night blindness; B1 beriberi; C scurvy; D rickets; K clotting; iodine goitre; iron anaemia.
- Bacteria: TB, cholera, typhoid; viruses: polio, measles, dengue; protozoa: malaria, kala-azar.
- Anopheles malaria; Aedes dengue; Culex filariasis; sandfly kala-azar.
- Jenner smallpox; Pasteur rabies; Fleming penicillin; Banting-Best insulin; Röntgen X-rays.