Health Variation Assignment Report

Running head: HEALTH VARIATION 1
Health Variation
Name
Institution

HEALTH VARIATION 2
Question 1
Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that leads to the inflammation of the digestive
tract thus leading to severe diarrhea abdominal pain, malnutrition, and weight loss (Nurgali &
Wildbore, 2014). This disease affects different structures in the gastrointestinal tract starting
from the mouth to the anus. It is worth noting that it can affect some structures and not others
along the gastrointestinal tract. Research has revealed that several structural changes in the
disease process in Crohn’s disease can lead to weight loss. Firstly, this disease causes the
inflammation of the small intestines thus making it difficult to digest food and absorb the
necessary nutrients. Attack of the ileum may lead to malabsorption which can lead to
malnutrition (Nurgali & Wildbore, 2014). Malnutrition may thus lead to weight loss because the
body lacks the necessary nutrients to grow and maintain the required weight.
It is also indicated from the case study that a medical officer performs a CT scan of Jordan’s
bowel and finds out that he has a stricture. A stricture can be described as the narrowing of the
small intestines due to several inflammations that create a scar on the lining of the intestines.
Strictures restrict the passage of digested food thus leading to malabsorption (Ko, Abraham &
Shih, 2018). As a result, one experiences deficiencies of all or most of the nutrients that are
needed by the body. Individuals like Jordan, therefore, lose weight or find it difficult to maintain
their weights. Histology of the small intestines changes thus leading to partial villous atrophy
(Mourad, Barada & Saade, 2017). These morphological changes affect food absorption thus
leading to loss of weight.
Jordan’s weight loss may also have been affected by functional changes in the disease process.
Crohn’s disease leads to intestinal dysfunctions thus leading to a reduction in the absorption of
amino acids, electrolytes, water, carbohydrates, and all the necessary nutrients. The colon of a

HEALTH VARIATION 3
patient that has Crohn’s disease like Jordan has an altered secretory capacity thus leading to
persistent diarrhea in patients (Mourad et al., 2017). Jordan also reveals that he had been
experiencing persistent diarrhea a week before presenting himself to the hospital. It is reported
that diarrhea leads to the loss of important nutrients and water from the body thus leading to
weight loss. Abdominal bloating and pain as a result of Crohn’s disease can lead to loss of
appetite. This is because the patient may feel that eating will cause them pain. As a result, a
patient experiences malnutrition due to lack of enough nutrients in the body thus potentially
leading to loss of weight.
Question 2
Pain in Crohn’s disease is caused by different mechanisms such as distention of the gut and
severe inflammation of the intestines. According to studies, inflammation leads to sensitization
of the sensory pathways thus causing persistent alterations of the afferent neurons and pain
processing of the central nervous system. The sensory pathways interact with neurons that cross
the white commissure and ascend to higher brain regions (Alexa-Stratulat, Luca & Bohotin,
2016). The pathways then descend to the brainstem to modulate sensory inputs thus inducing a
pain sensation. Most patients that have Crohn’s disease such as Jordan experience anxiety and
depression that are believed to be the central modulating factors of the sensory pathways and
pain processing. As a result, the patient experiences chronic pain that is persistent but wears off
with a reduction in disease activity. Drugs such as morphine act in the brain to modulate pain.
Morphine is an analgesic that helps in altering the conscious perception of pain. Morphine
reduces the magnitude of neuron response, lowers the number of neurons that respond to pain
and shortens the duration of the response (Bullock & Manias, 2013). These three functions of