Adaptive responses refer to the manifestations intended to restore the normal functioning of the body by resisting, avoiding harmful effects, and counteracting environmental changes. These changes of the brain activity maintain homeostasis. When the body is adapting to a particular change in the surroundings, it employs various mechanisms. Health professionals analyze the changes that a body undergoes when trying to resist the pathological conditions. The paper focuses on different scenarios that portray the pathophysiology of diseases affecting Jennifer, Jack, and Martha.
Jennifer’s mother says that her child has been fussy and not interested in eating and watching her favorite cartoon program on the television. The pathophysiology of the disease includes high temperature, restlessness, high blood pressure, and swollen lymph nodes such that Jennifer’s throat is painful when she is swallowing something. That is the reason why the 2-years-old patient does not like eating her breakfast. In this case, high blood pressure causes various alterations that adversely affects the normal functioning of the body. For example, it results in vasodilation, where the vessels increase in volume to enable more blood to flow. Jennifer’s adaptive responses are reddening of the tympanic membranes and dry and hot skin (Kandola, 2018). Her body uses these mechanisms to reduce the heat and lose water to facilitate the cooling effect.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The pathophysiology of Jack’s illness includes hands’ irritation and redness. In particular, the individual admits working with abrasive solvents since he a maintenance engineer in one of the newspapers company. Jack affirms that he exposes his hands to the chemicals when the firm has run out of gloves. However, he says that he washes his hands thoroughly and that it never hurts. As such, due to handling abrasive chemicals, Jack’s blood capillaries are likely to soften (Anderson & Meade, 2014). The alterations of dilated vessels are an inefficient supply of blood to all organs and rupture of capillaries if exposed to a higher pressure than normal. The adaptive responses of Jack’s body are allergy-like infections and flakiness of his hands. The softening of blood capillaries might tamper with the blood flow in the patient’s hands. However, the primary reason for reddening of Jack’s hands is increased blood flow while irritation might arise due to handling abrasive solvents without the necessary gear. Jack may also suffer from other disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and blood clotting.
Martha’s pathophysiology includes sleeplessness, loss of appetite, and hypertension. Specifically, the 65-years-old patient admits that she has been controlling high blood pressure by using hydrochlorothiazide. Martha’s health condition deteriorated when her mother fell off the stairs, breaking her hip. As such, she became dependent on her daughter since she lost her balance and mobility. Martha’s lack of sleep and the loss of appetite might be attributed by many commitments. The alterations of her disease are depression and weak body. By eating less food, the patient’s body does not get enough energy for normal functioning (Hammer & McPhee, 2014). The adaptive responses of Martha’s illness are depression and body inactivity. If Martha becomes inactive, at some point, her health condition might worsen by thinking about the state of her 87-years-old mother. Overall, she needs to continue taking her medication to regulate her blood pressure, eat a balanced diet, and create enough time to sleep so that she can rest.
Epidemiology
Approximately 10-15% of adults have chronic insomnia, while 25-35% suffer from sleeplessness occasionally (Crosta, 2017). The prevalence of insomnia increases with an individual’s age. However, in the case of Martha, insomnia might arise from many commitments since she is the one taking care of her 87-years-old mother.
Pathophysiology
Insomnia can be caused by other underlying health problems such as depression. However, the common signs of this disease include waking up at night, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, anxiety, and loss of concentration (Huether & McCance, 2017). Other symptoms are headaches, gastrointestinal problems, and irritability.
Risk Factors
People across all ages might suffer from sleeplessness at some point in their life. Nevertheless, the risk factors for this disease are traveling for long hours, use of drugs, pregnancy, and mental health diseases (Crosta, 2017). In most cases, one can overcome insomnia by addressing the issue at hand. For example, Martha can get better if she gets a helper so that she can be assisted to take care of her mother.
Clinical Presentation
The common clinical presentation of insomnia includes fatigue, loss of concentration, and minor accidents. Doctors ask various questions to get more information about a person’s sleep patterns. In some cases, physicians might scan for drugs and psychiatric disorders.
Disease Diagnosis
The primary method that doctors use to diagnose insomnia is by asking questions to understand the patient’s sleep patterns. Besides, people are advised to seek medical help when sleeplessness last for over one month (Crosta, 2017). If the doctor fails to get any drug or psychiatric disorder that might affect one’s sleep, the specialist might encourage the patient to record sleeping patterns on a diary.
Adaptive Responses
Sleeplessness itself might be an adaptive response for depression and anxiety. Specifically, insomnia exacerbates emotional, stress-related, and behavioral responses. Moreover, sleeplessness can be a mechanism through which the body tries to recover from a specific health condition. For instance, in Martha’s case, it might be the result of many commitments and the worry about her mother’s condition.
To conclude, adaptive responses enable the body to restore its normal functioning. Jennifer, Jack, and Martha suffer from different health conditions, and that is the reason why they portray distinct pathophysiology conditions. Overall, doctors analyze pathological conditions to understand diseases that patients are suffering from and suggest the most appropriate treatment method.
References
Crosta, P. (2017). Insomnia: Everything you need to know. Medical News Today. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/9155.php.
Anderson, S. E., & Meade, B. J. (2014). Potential health effects associated with dermal exposure to occupational chemicals. Environmental Health Insights, 8 (1), 51-62.
Huether, S. E., & McCance, K. L. (2017). Understanding pathophysiology (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
Hammer, G. G., & McPhee, S. (2014). Pathophysiology of disease: An introduction to clinical medicine . (7th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Kandola, A. (2018). What can cause red skin? Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323521.php.
