This assignment is an Introduction to Pathophysiology. It assist you with developing a general definition and understanding of pathophysiology. It will also allow for you address pathophysiology applications and how these applications are related to evidence-based practice.
Instructions: After reading your assigned reading for this week. Read the case study below and answer the questions using complete sentences.
Judy is a 40-year-old Caucasian female born and raised in Ontario, Canada, who presents to her primary care clinic with concerns regarding periodic memory loss, impaired vision, urinary incontinence, stumbling when walking, numbness in her feet and hands, slurred speech, fatigue, and pain in her legs and arms. She undergoes an MRI and is told that she has multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease against myelin causing progressive degeneration of the nerves in the CNS and peripheral nervous system. There is no known cause. She is told that 211,000 Americans and 1.1 million people worldwide are currently diagnosed with MS and that genetic and environmental factors play a role in an individual's risk for developing MS. She is also informed that the characteristics of people most likely to develop MS include Caucasian women of northern European ancestry, age 20 to 40, with a family history of MS. Finally, she is told to expect periods of acute neurologic symptoms alternating with periods of symptom relief or return of neurologic function.
- Would you define Judy as healthy or ill? Explain
- What were the risk factors mentioned in this case study related to the development of MS?
- What is the etiology of MS? Would MS be considered either nosocomial or iatrogenic? Explain.
- Identify the symptoms that Judy reports.
- Identify signs leading to the diagnosis of MS.
- How would you categorize this illness: acute or chronic? Describe the expected course of the illness.
- Which of the manifestations are local and which are systemic?
- What are the prevalence and incidence for MS? What is the prognosis for Judy?
- What aspects related to human diversity and disease would be important to consider with regard to Judy
- What additional dimensions of the health history would you need to explore in order to provide holistic health care?