Health Variations : Crohn’s Disease

Running head: HEALTH VARIATIONS 1
Crohn’s Disease
Name of the student
Name of the professor
Institution Affiliation
Date

HEALTH VARIATIONS 2
Question one
Crohn’s disease is characterized by chronic inflammation of the bowel and the
gastrointestinal tract, which occurs in an irregular pattern. A Crohn’s disease patient loses weight
rapidly because his/her body is not getting the appropriate nutrient it requires to function
properly. The Foundation of Colitis and Crohn’s, recommends eating proteins and calories to
facilitate faster healing and maintenance of healthy weight when one feels stressed. Jordan has
been having several severe signs and symptoms of Crohn’s disease that have led him to lose his
appetite and unable to get enough sleep and rest. These symptoms stressed Jordan a lot. Some of
these symptoms include abdominal bloating, pain on the right lower abdomen, bilious vomiting
and nausea, persistent diarrhea, tenderness, malaise, and fatigue. These signs and symptoms are
as a result of functional and structural changes in the disease process (Torres, Mehandru,
Colombel & Peyrin-Biroulet, 2017).
Vomiting and diarrhoea made Jordan unable to eat or drink anything in the previous
week. He stated that he had lost seven kilograms within three weeks. Most of the Crohn’s disease
patient lose appetite, which leads to weight loss as a result of symptoms such as inflammatory
bowel disease (IBD) or due to the side effects of medications to the patients. Jordan lost weight
because he could not drink or eat anything for the past five days. He avoided eating because
certain foods could result in gastrointestinal distress. Crohn’s disease affects the functioning of
the digestive system. It can affect any of the gastrointestinal organs from mouth to anus. The
digestive system of a Crohn’s patient has problems in digesting and absorbing nutrients due to
inflammation in the ileum. This results in malabsorption, which is a perpetrator of weight loss
(Buttó & Haller, 2017).

HEALTH VARIATIONS 3
Inflammation in the large intestine can trigger problems in the absorption of electrolytes
and water. Some of the structural changes that are associated with Jordan’s condition include
decreased bone health, thus increasing the risk of fractures. The inflammation due to Crohn’s
disease affects layers of the mucosa and submucosa membrane on the gastrointestinal wall.
Malnutrition due to Crohn’s disease leads to a weak immune system, higher rates of infections,
and poor wound healing. Jordan was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at an early age of 17-years,
which led to surgical management of his perianal abscess. The surgery he underwent at a young
age is associated with his right lower IMD during diagnosis, which corresponds to a loss of body
weight. 90% of young people with IBD present weight loss at the time of diagnosis (Rieder et al.,
2016).
Question two
Jordan was given morphine medication after the surgery to relieve pain (morphine 15mg
intramuscularly (IM) QID PRN). The pain associated with IBD varies significantly. Morphine
remains the most effective pain reliever drug after past various research on painkillers. The more
you increase morphine dosage, the more it blocks pain. Morphine acts directly to the opioid
receptors, which is a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that control pain perception within the
nervous system. Opioid receptors can be found on the brain, digestive tract, and also in the
spinal cord. Receptor responds to compounds like encephalin, which controls pain in the human
body (Cividjian, Petitjeans, Liu, Ghignone, de Kock & Quintin, 2017.
There was a lot of pain associated with Jordan’s gastrointestinal surgery, which he
underwent. He was given morphine by the medical officer, which simulates the opioid receptor
compounds to block the pain messages. After binding of the opioid receptors with the morphine,
they actuate a series of events where GPCR initiates the corresponding g-protein that triggers