Pathophysiology and Stages of Life
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- Created by: amazingemilyjones
- Created on: 15-04-19 22:01
Pathophysiology and Stages of Life
Pathophysiology and Stages of Life
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Pathophysiology
- Human physiology is the science of the mechanical, physical and biochemical functions of humans in good health, their organs and the cells of which they are composed
- Pathophysiology is the study of the changes of normal mechanical, physical and biochemical functions, either caused by a disease or resulting from an abnormal syndrome (a collection of signs and symptoms that occur together in response to a certain condition)
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Non-Specific Resistance
- Offers immediate protection against a wide variety of pathogens and foreign substances
- Lacks specific responses to specific invaders
- First line defence - skin and mucous membranes
- Both mechanical and chemical barriers discourage pathogens and foreign substances from penetrating the body and causing disease
- Second line defence - internal defences
- Antimicrobial proteins
- blood and interstitial fluids contain antimicrobial proteins that discourage microbial growth
- Antimicrobial proteins
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Non-Specific Resistance
- Natural killer cells and phagocytes
- if microbes penetrate the skin and mucous membranes and survive the action of antimicrobial proteins in blood, they may be attacked by natural killer T cells or phagocytes
- Inflammation
- Initiated by cells damaged by microbes, physical agents or chemical agents
- Redness, pain, heat, swelling
- Can cause loss of function in injured area
- Traps microbes, toxins and foreign material at site of injury and prepares site for tissue repair
- Helps restore homeostasis
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Non-Specific Resistance
- Fever
- An abnormally high body temperature that occurs because the hypothalamic thermostat is reset
- Commonly occurs during infection and inflammation
- Many bacterial toxins elevate body temperature
- Elevated body temperature:
- inhibits the growth of some microbes
- speeds up body reactions that aid repair
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Specific Resistance (Immunity)
- The ability of the body to defend itself against specific invading agents such as bacteria, toxins, viruses and foreign tissues
- Substances that are recognised as foreign and provoke immune responses are called antigens
- Two properties distunguish immunity from non-specific defences:
- Specificity for particular foreign molecules (antigens), which also involves distinguishing self from non-self molecules
- Memory for most previously encountered antigens such that a second encounter prompts an even more rapid and vigorous response
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Stages of Life
- A patient's age is important in relation to health and disease
- neonate (newborn, 0-28 days)
- infant (baby, 1-11 months)
- toddler (1-2 years)
- prepubescent (4-12 years)
- adolescent (puberty, 13-19 years)
- adult (20+ years)
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Prenatal Development and Pregnancy
- Prenatal development: the process in which a baby develops from a single cell after conception into an embryo and later a foetus
- Embryonic stage: begins after implantation and lasts until 8 weeks after conception
- Embryonic stage: 3 distinct laters differentiate into different tissues and structures
- Ectoderm (outer)
- skin, nails and hair, brain, nervous tissue and cells
- Mesoderm (middle)
- muscles, bones, heart, lungs, reproductive organs, lymph
- Endoderm (inner)
- lining of lungs, bladder, digestive tract
- Ectoderm (outer)
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Pregnancy and Medication
- Sometimes medicine a pregnant woman is taking can enter the foetus causing damage or birth defects
- Risk of damage to a foetus is greatest in the first few weeks of pregnancy when major organs are developing
- We don't know if taking medicines during pregnancy will have negative effects on the baby later
- No medicines have been proven absolutely safe to take when pregnant
- Example: Thalidomide tragedy
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Children and Medication
- Children (particularly neonates) differ from adults in their response to drugs
- Risk of toxicity is increased in children by:
- inefficient renal filtration
- relative enzyme deficiencies
- differing target organ sensitivity
- inadequate detoxifying systems causing delayed excretion
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Children and Medication
- Children may experience adverse drug reactions because:
- The action of drugs in children may be different from that in adults
- Drugs are not extensively tested in children
- Suitable formulations may not be available to allow precise dosing in children
- Many drugs are not specifically licensed for use in children
- The nature and course of illness and adverse drug reactions may differ between adults and children
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Childhood Diseases
- Nearly all the diseases in this list can also be contracted by adults, and children can contract diseases not categorised as childhood diseases
- Asthma
- Chicken pox
- Croup
- Measles
- Mumps
- Whooping cough
- ADHD
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Ageing (Senescence)
- Senescence or biological aging is the change in the biology of an organism as it ages after its maturity
- In general, aging is characterised by the declining ability to respond to stress, increased homeostatic imbalance, and increased risk of aging-associated diseases
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Ageing - Biological Changes
Aging-Associated Diseases
- Aging-associated disease: a disease that is seen with increasing frequency with increasing senescence
- Aging-associated diseases are to be distinguished from the aging process itself because we all age but we do not all experience aging-associated diseases
- Cardiovascular disease - common cause of death in the elderly
- Cancer
- Arthritis
- Cataracts
- Osteoporosis
- Type 2 diabetes
- Alzheimer's disease
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The Elderly and Medication
- Elderly patients often receive multiple drugs for their multiple diseases, which increases risk of drug interactions, adverse reactions and non-compliance
- Balance of benefit and harm of some medicines may be altered in the elderly
- Elderly patients may have difficulty swallowing tablets
- Normal ageing may be mistaken for disease
- Ageing systems = increased susceptibility to drugs
- Aged patients excrete drugs slowly
- Drug dosage is commonly started at 50% of adult dose
- Some drugs should be avoided altogether in the elderly
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Pathophysiology Terminology
- A disorder is any derangement or abnormality of function
- Disease is a more specific term for an illness characterised by a recognisable set of signs and symptoms
- a local disease affects one part or a limited region of the body
- a systemic disease affects either the entire body or several parts of it
- Diseases alter body structures and functions
- A person with a disease may experience
- symptoms: e.g. headache or nausea
- signs: e.g. swelling, rash, fever, paralysis
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Diagnosis of Disease
- Diagnosis is the science and skill of distinguishing one disorder or disease from another
- A diagnosis is made on:
- the patient's signs and symptoms
- his/her medical history
- a physical examination
- laboratory tests
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Medical History
- Taking a medical history consists of:
- Collecting information about events that may be related to a patient's illness, including:
- the chief complaint
- history of present illness
- past medical problems
- family medical problems
- social history
- review of symptoms
- Collecting information about events that may be related to a patient's illness, including:
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Physical Examination
- A physical examination is an orderly evaluation of the body and its functions
- This process includes:
- inspection
- palpitation
- auscultation
- percussion
- measuring vital signs
- laboratory tests
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Definitions
- Pathology is the laboratory study of cell and tissue changes associated with a disease
- Biopsy: surgical speciman
- Autopsy: exam after death
- Idiopathic - cause of disease is unknwon
- Etiology: causative factors of a disease
- congenital
- genetic
- microorganism
- metabolic dysfunction
- burns
- nutritional deficiency
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Predisposing Factors and Prevention
- Predisposing factors
- are tendencies that promote development of a disease in an individual
- they indicate a risk, not certain development
- include age, gender, diet, occupational exposure, genetic
- Prevention of a disease may include
- vaccine
- dietary and lifestyle modifications, e.g. stop smoking
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Definitions
- Pathogenesis: the development of a disease or sequence of events involved in tissue changes related to a disease process
- Acute: sudden short term illness with marked signs
- Chronic: milder condition but persists for a long time
- Sub-clinical: pathological change occurs but no obvious manifestations are exhibited by the patient
- Latent: silent, no clinical signs, incubation period
- Prodromal: the time in early development of the disease where the patient is aware of some changes but the signs are non-specific, e.g. fatigue, loss of appetite
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Definitions
- Manifestation: clinical evidence or effects of a disease
- Local: found at site of problem
- Systemic: general indication of disease, e.g. fever
- Lesion: specific tissue change
- A lesion can be: a microscopic change or things like a blister
- Diagnostic test is a laboratory test that can assist in diagnosis, measuring progress of recovery and confirm that a patient is free from a disease
- Remission: manifestations of disease subside
- Exacerbations: manifestations of disease increase
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Definitions
- Precipitating factor: something that triggers an accute episode, e.g. pollen
- Complication: additional problems that arise after the original disease begins
- disease can become worse or show more signs, symptoms or pathological changes, become widespread throughout the body or affect other organ systems
- a medical treatment may produce adverse effects itself
- a new disease may also appear as a complication
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Therapy
- Therapuy/therapeutic intervention: measures that promote recovery or slow disease progress
- Types of therapy:
- preventative/prophylactic therapy - intended to prevent a medical condition, e.g. vaccines
- abortive therapy - intended to stop a medical condition from progressing any further, e.g. treatment at beginning of migraine headache
- supportive therapy - increases patient's comfort
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Definitions
- Convalescence - period of recovery and return to normal state
- The later stage of an infectious disease or illness when the patient recovers and returns to normal, but may continue to be a source of infection even if feeling better
- Prognosis: probability of recovering from a disease
- Morbidity: disease rates within a group
- Mortality: relative numbers of deaths resulting from a particular disease
- Epidemiology: the science of trafficking pattern and occurrence of diseases, e.g. flu
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Definitions
- Epidemic: many cases of infectious disease in a given area
- Pandemic: high number of cases over several areas/worldwide
- Incidence: number of new cases within a given stated time period
- Communicable disease: infections that can be spread from one person to another
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