A Page Full of Medicine and Health Trivia Questions and Answers

With so much going on in the news lately about healthcare and medicine I couldn’t resist putting together a quiz about medicine, health care, and other medical related topics.  In the news today I read about the senate and the health care reform, swine flu vaccine recalls, and promising new cancer treatments.  Medicine is racing toward the future at a breakneck speed, so lets slow down and enjoy a good old fashioned Trivia quiz.

1. What type of microbe causes the common cold?
A: Virus.

2. What kind of food poisoning can be caused by eating half-cooked poultry?
A: Salmonella poisoning.

3: Which body fluid is affected by thalassemia?
A: Blood.

4. Which insect transmits malaria?
A: Mosquito.

5. What kind of contraceptive is the best protection against sexually transmitted diseases?
A: Condom.

6. Who developed vaccination against smallpox?
A: Jenner.

7. What is the main organ affected by a stroke?
A: Brain.

8. What is the disease in which normal clotting of the blood is slowed or stopped completely?
A: Hemophilia.

9. Diabetes results from a failure to secrete which hormone?
A: Insulin.

10. Which agency of the United Nations exists to fight and eradicate disease?
A: World Health Organization.

11. The tree Salix alba was used in the preparation of which drug?
A: Aspirin.

12. Malarial parasites live in which part of the mosquito?
A: Salivary glands.

13. Diabetes insipidus affects which organ?
A: Kidney.

14. Which disease, targeted by the World Health Organization, was eradicated by 1980?
A: Smallpox.

15. What is the name given to a statistician who calculates life expectancy, etc. for an insurance company?
A: Actuary.

16. Dopamine acts on which ;part of the body?
A: Brain.

17. Hodgkin’s disease is what type of disease?
A: Cancer.

18. English writer D H Lawrence died of which disease?
A: Tuberculosis.

19. Amniocentesis is used in which field of medicine?
A: Obstetrics.

20. The T cells of the human immune system mature in which gland?
A: Thymus.

21. Where would you find the pisiform bone?
A: Wrist.

22. Which protein forms hair and nails.
A: Keratin.

23. Of what do we have 52 in a lifetime, 20 of which are deciduous?
A: Teeth.

24. What is the substance produced by hard exercise and oxygen debt, causing stiffness in the muscles?
A: Lactic Acid.

25. What are the natural pain-killing substances produced in the brain and pituitary gland?
A: Endorphins.

26. What is the substance that the body over-produces in an allergic reaction to pollen?
A: Histamine.

27. Which three bones are collectively known as the auditory ossicles?
A: Hammer; anvil; stirrup.

28. What is an overgrowth of fibrous tissue, usually produced at the site of a scar?
A: Keloid.

29. What is the pigment that colors skin?
A: Melanin.

30. What is the colored muscle that responds involuntarily to light?
A: Iris.

31. What is the name of the membrane enclosing the fluid around the fetus?
A: Amnion: amniotic membrane.

32. Which is the only vein in the body to carry oxygenated blood?
A: Pulmonary vein.

33. What is the oxygen-carrying protein found in the red blood cells of the body?
A: Hemoglobin.

34. What are the chemicals produced by the endocrine glands to control body functions?
A: Hormones.

35. Which part of the eye contains about 137 million light-sensitive cells in one square inch?
A: Retina.

36. What is the ring of bones at the hip called?
A: Pelvic Girdle.

37. Which human body organ weighs about 2 kilos?
A: Liver.

38. What is the more common name for the tympanic membrane?
A: Ear drum.

39. What is the fluid that lubricates and cushions the moveable joints between the bones?
A: Synovial fluid.

40. What is the colorless liquid, consisting of plasma and white cells, which bathes the body tissues?
A: Lymph.