Impact of Age on Skin, Wound Healing, Digestive System and Osteoporosis: A Case Study of Joyce

Running head: HEALTHCARE
Healthcare
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HEALTHCARE
1.1. Age has a direct effect on skin and in case of Joyce, it is distinctly identified. Her skin
was dry, loose, wrinkled and has very less elasticity. This condition can occur due to the
decreased production of natural oils in skin due to age. Apart from that, collagen and elastin
fibers got break down as result the flexibility of skin got reduced. Joyce’s skin gets wrinkled
due to lack of the connective tissues. Dehydration in epidermis and dermis is also an
important factor which causes the wrinkles in the skin of Joyce. Apart from that, a visible
factor in Joyce’s skin is the color of hair and skins along with her nails. The colour changes
occurs due to reduced production of eumelanin because of age. Therefore these changes in
Joyce’s skin are natural and occurred due to age. Skin covers the whole surface of human
body and it is made up of two layers Epidermis and Dermis. Epidermis is the outer layer of
skin while dermis is the inner layer of skin. Epidermis primarily functions as the physical
barrier which restricts the microorganisms to enter inside the skin (Proksch et al. 2019)
Dermis on the other hand, contains sweat glands sebaceous glands, fat cells and hair follicles.
Secretions from sebaceous glands helps to maintain the hydration of the skin by restrict the
fluid loss (Proksch et al. 2019). Apart from that Fascia, is the tissue which connects the skin
with the muscles. It involves in providing protection against physiological stress (Prokschet
al. 2019). In case of adults, these componenets of skins are functioning efficiently which
leads to the normal condition of skin.
1.2. In case of Joyce, the wound healing process is comparatively slower than the adults.
Age plays an important factor in slow wound healing process (Gould 2016). However, the
wound healing process depends upon the type of wound and how it damages the skin. Joyce
was faced wounds related to fall which leads to fracture. Therefore, it her case, the
complications are severe. Wound healing process occurred in four different phases. Firstly
Homeostasis phase which starts when there is a wound in the body. This phase obstructs the

2HEALTHCARE
blood flow followed by platelet accumulation at the wall of blood vessels near the wound.
Finally the platelets involved in obstructing the lesion by coagulation. In adults homeostasis
phase starts directly after the formation of wound. However, in case of Joyce, it will take
further time as she lacks efficient immune components which triggers this stage. Secondly,
inflammation phase, localized swelling occurs. This step involves maintaining the blood flow
and restricting infections related to the wound. In normal individual, inflammation starts after
1 to 2 hours of the wound and occurred fully within 1 day. In case of Joyce, it will take
around 2-3 days to show inflammatory response. Thirdly, proliferative phase, where, the new
tissues are formed by collagen and extracellular matrix. This step often takes a little longer
time. In adults the step completes after 2-3 days of the wound, while in case of Joyce, it will
take around 5-7 days.Finally, maturation phase, where the wound healed properly due to
involvement of collagen. In this phase, cross linking of collagen occurred which reduced the
scar line and makes the skin area as it was before the wound. Joyce, will face problem in this
final stage as she lacks the collagen and it will take around 7 days in complete maturation of
the phase (Norman et al. 2016, p.303). In case of Joyce, there can be several factors which is
related to the slow wound healing process. Firstly, the Joyce lacks skin elasticity due to the
degradation of the outer layer of the cell. In cell, the elastic tissue and collagen fibre involves
in providing flexibility and strength to the cells which helps to maintain the normal shape of
the skin (Khalil et al. 2015, p. 550). As these components lack its ability of efficient
functioning, speed of wound healing got reduced. Therefore, Joyce might face similar
situations which reduces the wound healing procedure. Apart from that Joyce might face
difficulty in collagen replacement at the wound as the replacement procedure reduced with
increasing age (Gould 2016).
2.1. The human digestive system involves in proper digestion of food. However, it can be
hampered by adverse drug effects. There are several organs which play significant role in the