[ad_1]
Host factors are inherent qualities that determine a person’s susceptibility to disease, including general health, nutrition, psychology, social ties, substance abuse history, and race. Environmental factors can affect host factors, but some cannot be changed. Vaccinations and preventative care can eliminate host factors for disease.
A host factor is considered to be one of the inherent qualities of a person that helps determine that person’s susceptibility to disease. Host factors may be considered risk factors for the disease, but are part of the patient’s physical or psychological constitution. This makes a host factor different from an environmental factor, as environmental factors for disease come from outside the patient and can include things like limited access to medical care or exposure to certain toxins. General health, nutritional status, psychological characteristics, quality and type of social ties, history of substance abuse, and race may be host factors in the disease, as these things influence or are part of the mental and physical makeup of the patient.
Environmental factors can affect a person’s constitution and change that person’s host factors for the disease. A person who recovers from a viral disease, for example, may enjoy immunity to that disease in the future. This means that the person’s host factor has changed to dramatically reduce their vulnerability to disease.
The host factors of a disease can vary depending on the nature of the disease. Some diseases may require more than one host factor to cause infection. With proper self-care practices, many people may be able to alter the factors harboring them for the disease, making themselves less susceptible to the disease. Other host factors, such as race, age, and previous medical history, cannot be changed.
Generally good health can rule out many host factors for disease. Many people receive preventative care to help reduce the factors harboring them for the disease. Obesity, for example, is considered a primary host factor for many other conditions, including heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Losing weight can help reduce or eliminate the host factor that can contribute to these disorders, reducing the person’s chances of succumbing to them later in life.
Vaccinations are seen as another way to eliminate host factors for disease, in this case the host factor for susceptibility to a virus. The host factor for most viral infections is susceptibility to the virus. A person who has been vaccinated against a virus, or has gained immunity by contracting and recovering from the virus, is considered to have what is known as specific immunity to that virus. The person is not expected to contract that virus again in the future because they are considered host factor deficient for that virus.
[ad_2]