Pathophysiology and Pharmacology

Running Head: PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY
Pathophysiology of the disorder linked to aetiology and risk factor of the patient:
Penny Hofsatder, 24 year old woman, was studying in Canada. Penny was very furious as
she has been studying very hard and gave all her hard work in studying from past one month
because of which she felt that she was undergoing through a lot stress. Penny also confessed that
due her stressful condition she was involved in smoking and would smoke at least one packet of
cigarettes every day from past eight years. She was very much addicted to caffeine consumption
by drinking coffee very frequently. Considering the stated risk factor and symptoms of Penny, it
was clear and concluded that she was had been multiple sclerosis condition.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is defined as a condition that includes immune-mediated
procedure that ultimately results in unusual or abnormal immune reaction, thereby damaging the
Central Nervous System (CNS) (Hauser, Oksenberg & Baranzini, 2015). There are various risk
factors that lead to the condition of multiple sclerosis like age (commonly detected in population
with age group of 16- 55), race (commonly detected in population of Africa, America and
Australia), sex (more prevalent in female because they have strong T helper type 1 immune
response), climate (more prevalent in regions or countries with temperate climate like Canada),
vitamin D deficiency (low vitamin D decreases the concentration of calcium in the body thereby
affecting the immune response of the patient), autoimmune disorder (bladder malfunction) and
smoking (continuous smoking worsens the pain associated with multiple sclerosis thus resulting
in fatigue and depression) (Olsson, Barcellos & Alfredsson, 2017). The above mentioned risk
factors were observed and detected in Penny. Therefore, the above mentioned risk factor result in
abnormal behaviour of the patient’s immune system by attacking the myelin sheath also termed
as protective sheath that protects the nerve bundles. Hence, multiple sclerosis is considered as the
demyelinating disease that affect axon (part of nerve cell) to not function properly, which help in

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PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY
impulse conduction and hence leads in poor or inefficient communication in the body as there is
no coordination between brain and the body activity (Dendrou, Fugger & Friese, 2015).
Disease’s pathophysiology that leads to the patient’s clinical signs and manifestation:
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is defined as a condition that leads to demyelination of spinal
nerves and brain cells. The Patient with multiple sclerosis experience visual alteration like
double vision and damage of vision. From the case study, it was clearly stated by penny that she
had been experiencing peripheral loss of vision witnessed in her left eye, loss of strength in her
left hand, voiding, nocturia and bladder malfunction. In multiple sclerosis condition the brain and
nerve activity is majorly affected. Hence, optic nerves, which control the eye movement is
damaged resulting in vision impairment and ultimately loss of vision (Hauser, Oksenberg &
Baranzini, 2015). In this health condition, micturition pathway is damaged that control urine
regulation. Hence, the urinary bladder is unable to control the urge of urination for a prolonged
period or do not void effectively while urination that result in the urge of frequent urination
during night time and also during morning hours. The above condition results in fatigue
throughout the day (Fiest et al., 2016). Inactivity during the whole day and under use of the arm
muscles leads to muscle weakness. Myelination also result in muscle weakness that is due to the
damage in corticospinal tract as the myelin sheath protecting the nerve are damaged, hence
leaving the nerves unprotected or exposed thereby disrupting the communication among nerves
and brain . Disturbance of nerve leads to damage of corticospinal tract that is accountable for the
muscle activity resulting in muscle weakness (Schapiro, 2014). Multiple sclerosis also results in
clumsy gait due to the damage caused in the cerebellar tract. The patient is unable to walk
properly as there is no effective communication between nerves and brain that results in muscle
tightness therefore, the patient was facing difficulty in walking. The final clinical manifestation