Cronh’s disease | Case Study | Assignment

Running head: CASE STUDY 1
Case Study
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

CASE STUDY 2
Question no. 1
The people who suffer from acute inflammatory disease or Cronh’s disease undergoes rapid
weight loss which can be an indication of malnutrition caused by insufficient uptake of
calories. Also there is too much fluid loss from the patient body due to diarrhea or intestinal
bleeding. Besides, individuals with Crohn’s disease have less or poor apetite, they do not feel
the urge to eat(Torres et al, 2017). In this case, Jordan was suffering from malabsorption and
facing difficulty with maintaining his weight even if he consumed food, since his body was
unable to breakdown the food properly, utilizing the nutrients. Malabsorption often leads to
diarrhea or abdominal bloating. Jordan also developed food aversion which takes place when
an individual feels a sensation of pain while eating(Akobeng et al, 2018). That is why, he
used to avoid eating in order to avoid the pain or unpleasant experience, thus leading to
weight loss. Moreover, since Jordan was not being able to keep up with his work, he
remained depressed and refused to eat. The side effects of medications may have triggered
appetite loss in Jordan, since the medications are found to change the taste sensation of the
tongue, making the person less interested in eating. Besides, the abdominal pain and nausea
reduced Jordan’s apetite which resulted in insufficient calorie intake. Rectal bleeding from
ulcer in the intestine leads to deficiency of iron, leading to anemia followed by severe weight
loss and weakness. Jordan was also diagnosed with perianal abscess or anal fistula which
results in the formation of a collection of pus through a process known as “abdominal sepsis”.
As a result, there is reduced absorption of nutients and calories in the body, which led to
malnourishment and subsequent weight loss of Jordan(Santarpia et al, 2019). Jordan had poor
skin turgor due to severe fluid loss from the body. It was found that, mild dehydration
accounts for loss of 5% of the body weight whereas, severe dehydration accounts for 12-15%
of total body weight.

CASE STUDY 3
Question no. 2
The pathway of pain consist of three different orders of neurons which are together involved
in carrying the action potential signal to the brain responsible for pain. The “first order”
neurones are also known as “pseudounipolar neurones”. They have both cell body and
ganglion at the dorsal root region. The “second order” neurons have cell bodies, which are
found in the spinal cord or within the cranial nerves. The cell bodies of the “third order”
neuron lies within the thalamus. The first order neurons contains specialized receptors called
“nociceptors” present at the nerve endings of the primary afferent neuron, also called
unencapsulated cutaneous receptors. These receptors helps in the transduction of the pain
signal when a specific area of the skin gets excited or stimulated. There are three different
classes of nociceptors: mechanical nociceptors helps in detection of severe and intensive
pain, whereas thermal and mechano-thermal nociceptors detects signals which gives a
burning or cold sensation and lastly, the polymodal nociceptors helps in the detection of
mechanical, chemical and thermal sensations.
Morphine usually shows its activity on the opioid receptors, which is a type of “G-protein
coupled receptor”(GPCR) and helps in modulation or alteration of pain sensations in the
nervous system. The opioid receptors are distributed mainly in the brain and spinal cord and
attaches with a compound named “encephalin” to control pain. Morphin imitates the structure
of encephalin and binds itself with the opioid receptors and initiates a series of events. It
activates GPCR , which increases the rate of conduction through potassium channel, and
decreases the speed of conduction of signals through calcium channel, followed by the
inhibition of adenylyl cyclase. Together, these modulations obstructs the successful
transmission of pain signal to the nervous system(Nealon et al, 2018).