NDA (II) 2024 General Ability Test · Question 45 of 141

Correct — B, The scientific study of the spread and control of diseases. 'Epidemiology' (Greek epi- 'upon' + demos 'people' + -logia 'study') is the branch of medical science that studies how diseases are distributed and spread in populations and how they can be prevented and controlled. Option A wrongly restricts it to 'historical' study; options C and D describe pharmacology (the study of drugs), a different discipline.

• (a)The historical study of the spread of diseases — Epidemiology is a current, scientific study of disease patterns and control, not a purely 'historical' one.
• (c)The scientific study of the invention and uses of drugs — That describes pharmacology/pharmacy; epidemiology is about diseases in populations, not drug invention.
• (d)The scientific study of the uses of drugs — Again a drug-focused field (pharmacology), not the study of the spread and control of diseases.

Vocabulary-in-context: 'epidemiology' is the scientific study of the distribution, spread and control of diseases in populations (the '-logy of epidemics'); it is unrelated to the study of drugs (pharmacology).

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  What does the word 'pathology' most nearly mean?

  • (a)The study of the causes and effects of diseases
  • (b)The study of birds
  • (c)The study of soils
  • (d)The study of language

  Answer(a) The study of the causes and effects of diseases.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the correct meaning of 'endemic':

  • (a)spreading rapidly worldwide
  • (b)regularly found in a particular area or group
  • (c)completely eradicated
  • (d)caused by drugs

  Answer(b) regularly found in a particular area or group — an endemic disease is native/constant to a region.