UCAT General Knowledge 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease?
- Regular aerobic exercise
- Low sodium diet
- Hypertension (Correct answer)
- High HDL cholesterol
Correct answer: Hypertension
Hypertension (high blood pressure) damages arterial walls over time, significantly increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Question 2: What does the term 'epidemiology' refer to?
- The study of the skin and its diseases
- The study of distribution and determinants of health events in populations (Correct answer)
- The study of epidemic viruses in lab settings
- The study of the nervous system
Correct answer: The study of distribution and determinants of health events in populations
Epidemiology examines how diseases are distributed across populations and what factors determine that distribution.
Question 3: Which of the following correctly defines 'mortality rate'?
- The number of new cases of a disease per year
- The proportion of individuals with a disease who die from it (Correct answer)
- The total number of people living with a disease at a given time
- The rate at which people recover from an illness
Correct answer: The proportion of individuals with a disease who die from it
Mortality rate (case fatality rate) is the proportion of people who die from a disease among all confirmed cases.
Question 4: A patient has a fractured femur. Which part of the body is affected?
- Upper arm
- Lower leg
- Thigh (Correct answer)
- Forearm
Correct answer: Thigh
The femur is the thigh bone — the longest and strongest bone in the human body, located between the hip and knee.
Question 5: Which of the following is an autoimmune disease?
- Pneumonia
- Malaria
- Rheumatoid arthritis (Correct answer)
- Chickenpox
Correct answer: Rheumatoid arthritis
In rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system mistakenly attacks the synovial lining of joints, causing chronic inflammation.
Question 6: What is the function of the hypothalamus?
- Voluntary movement coordination
- Regulation of body temperature, hunger, and hormone release (Correct answer)
- Processing of visual information
- Long-term memory storage
Correct answer: Regulation of body temperature, hunger, and hormone release
The hypothalamus is the brain's control centre for homeostasis, regulating temperature, hunger, thirst, and the endocrine system via the pituitary gland.
Question 7: Which of the following best describes a 'systemic' effect of a drug?
- An effect confined to the site of application
- An effect that occurs only in the digestive tract
- A widespread effect throughout the body via the bloodstream (Correct answer)
- An effect that appears only after long-term use
Correct answer: A widespread effect throughout the body via the bloodstream
A systemic effect occurs when a drug enters the bloodstream and acts throughout the body, in contrast to a localised effect.
UCAT General Knowledge 5
Which of the following is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease?