HLT100: Anatomy Assignment - Case Study of Joyce (Semester 2)

This report analyzes a case study of a 77-year-old female named Joyce, focusing on the impact of aging on her health. The assignment explores the anatomy and physiology of the integumentary, digestive, and skeletal systems. It examines the changes in skin structure, wound healing challenges, and the causes and management of constipation. The report also delves into Joyce's diagnosis of osteoporosis, explaining the disease's impact on bone density and structure, and the recommended treatments with calcium and vitamin D supplements. The assignment demonstrates an understanding of the complex interactions between these body systems in maintaining health and homeostasis, providing a comprehensive overview of Joyce's health issues and their management.

Running head: ANATOMY ASSIGMENT
ANATOMY ASSIGNMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1ANATOMY ASSIGNMENT
Table of Contents
Question 1........................................................................................................................................2
Question 2........................................................................................................................................2
Question 3........................................................................................................................................4
Question 4........................................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................6

2ANATOMY ASSIGNMENT
Question 1
1.i. The given case study is about a 77 year old female named Joyce, who used to work in a
nursing home and presently she has been facing difficulties to move. As the age increases, the
condition of the skin also changes. The skin is composed of two layers- the dermis and
epidermis. The primary function of epidermis is to maintain the structural integrity of skin and it
do so by providing physical barrier to the microbes. The function of dermis is to provide
strength, blood, support and oxygen and the subcutaneous layer beneath the dermis function as
the shock absorber from trauma, maintain the heat loss from the body (Dunne et al. 2015). One
of the important alteration of the skin as the age of a person increases is the reduced ability of the
epidermal layer to prevent the loss of water. The aging also effects the desquamation of the
stratum conium, which plays a very significant role in the maintaining the skin’s moisture.
Prolonged turnover of the epidermal layer and slowed desquamation lead to the thinning of the
top layer of the corneocytes and thus creates a larger surface area for the loss of fluid (Di
Lorenzo et al. 2017).
1.ii. Many factors affect the wound healing process of the aged persons, starting from the type of
dressings to the status of the nutrition that the person is taking. As people grow older they
experience physiological changes which put them in the risk of poor healing of wounds. The rate
of wound healing also depends on the state of wellness of the person and the bodily
transformations are also responsible for the dealing the wound healing procedures of the aged
people. As a person grow older, the skin elasticity gets reduced so it becomes difficult for the
skin to return to the normal shape and color. The levels of collagen also get reduced as the age of
the person increases. As the elasticity of the skin decreases the level collagen also get reduced
and the capacity to develop new cells and tissue regeneration also decreases. The age related
diseases are also responsible for the reduction in the capability of the older people to reduce the
wound healing process. Patients who are suffering from heart diseases and diabetes affect low
level of blood flow and thus the wound area become malnutrition and low in oxygen thus the
wound healing decreases (Sorg et al. 2017).

3ANATOMY ASSIGNMENT
Question 2
2.i. The drug induced diarrhea is the watery stools that happens when a person takes certain
medicines. Nearly all medicines cause the side effects of diarrhea. One of the medicines which
cause diarrhea are the laxatives. These medicines work in two ways, either by drawing water in
the gut or by making the muscles of the intestine to contract, so too much taking of this drug may
cause diarrhea which is a major problem. The antacids contain magnesium within them which
also lead to the cause of diarrhea. The antibiotics also produce diarrhea as it destroy the normal
bacterial flora of the intestine and in some cases the antibiotics lead to the growth of Clostridium
difficile which often cause severe, watery. Sometimes bloody diarrhea, called
pseudomembranous colitis may also happen (Slattery et al. 2015).
The constipation can be defined in medical term as fewer than thrice stools every week
and in severe cases less than one stool in a week. Many people suffer from constipation as the
side effects of taking medicines. The medicines which causes diarrhea are narcotic pain
medicines, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, iron supplements, the drug which block the calcium
channels and the antacids containing aluminum. Another cause of diarrhea is the excess use of
laxatives. There is an association in between the excess use of these medicines and damage to the
nerves and the muscles of colon Th xobtpation happens because of the damage of the nerves as
well as the muscles of the colon. The damage might have existed prior to the use of the drugs or
may have happened because of the actions of drugs (Sanders et al. 2015).
2.ii. In the given case study, the patient is an aged person of 77 years of age and because of the
side effects of the medicines, she is suffering from constipation. She needs to change the diet to
cure the constipation. The constipation is a serious problem which results from the diet and the
lifestyle may get cured if proper diet and lifestyle are maintained. Those who are suffering from
constipation have to drink plenty of water throughout the day which helps in the easy movement
of bowel and resolve the symptoms. When a person gets dehydrated, the result is the hard, dry
and lumpy stools which lead to the constipation. Probiotics like yogurt and kefir contain
microorganisms which help in the improvement in the conditions of gut and soften the stools.
Pulses like beans, lentils and peas contain nutrient that which promotes good digestion and helps
in reducing constipation. Soups are also nutritious and are very east to digest and thus helps in
reducing constipation. The patient can take all of the foods mentioned above along with apples

4ANATOMY ASSIGNMENT
and pears as these contain fiber, sorbitol and fructose which improves digestion (Nimrouz and
Zarshenas 2015).
Question 3
3.ii. Recently Joyce has been diagnosed with osteoporosis, the disease which effects the bones,
make them less dense and also make them more fragile and are thus pone to fractures. Some
specific bones in the body are more prone to the risk of developing osteoporosis. With the
osteoporosis the bone density gets reduced, the structure of the spongy bone is hamper as well as
the cortical bone gets thinned. When the bones get thinned, the patients are diagnosed with
osteoporosis. Joyce’s son should be explained osteoporosis as the changes in the physical
structure of bones. The cortical bone of the patient becomes thinner and the spongy bone
becomes less dense as a result bigger spaces are formed between the bony structures of the struts.
People of age above 50 years are at risk of developing osteoporosis. If the amount of bone which
is being formed is more than the amount of bone which are being reabsorbed, the amount of bone
in the skeleton will get increased. But after the age of 30, the amount of bone which are
reabsorbed becomes more than the amount of formed bone. This imbalances lead to the gradual
loss of the bone mass of an aged person. The risk factors of osteoporosis are a family history of
osteoporosis, previous fractures of bones, reduce intake of calcium, and reduce vitamin D level,
smoking, drinking excess of alcohol, other medical conditions like thyroid problems, arthritis,
liver or kidney disease (Edwards et al. 2015).
3.ii. The most probable causes of osteoporosis to this old lady are described below:
 The most important cause of osteoporosis of the patient is age. The age of the patient is
77 and after age 30, the amount of bone that is being absorbed by the body is more than
the amount of bone that is being produced and so the density of the bone gets reduced
(Marcucci and Brandi 2015)
 The next important cause is menopause which is a significant is event in terms of the
bones. The level of estrogen gets reduced and this causes reduction in the bone mass after
menopause. The patient of the case study is above 50 years age and thus menopause is
one of the cause of osteoporosis (Black and Rosen 2016).

5ANATOMY ASSIGNMENT
 The other factor is other medications and medical conditions. The patient is suffering
from inflammatory bowel disease and is also under several medicines. So this may lead
to osteoporosis.
Question 4
Both the calcium and vitamin D supplement are provided to strengthen then the bones
and to protect from fractures. Calcium is an essential element and this is necessary for life as
apart from making the bones stronger, calcium enables the blood to clot to contract the muscles
and in heartbeat. Every day a person losses calcium through skin, nails, hairs and urine. The
human body cannot produce calcium and so it has to be supplemented from foods (Zhao et al.
2017). As the patient is a woman of 77 years of age she needs 1000 mg of calcium daily.
Vitamin D is also very essential for the body as it helps in protecting the bones of the body by
helping the body to absorb more calcium and also by supporting the muscles to avoid fall as
much as possible (Weaver et al. 2016). The patient of this case study is suffering from
osteoporosis, so she needs calcium to make the bones stronger along with Vitamin D supplement
from sunlight or foods. Joyce should take 800-1000 IU vitamin D supplement daily along with
calcium. Vitamin D supplements may be taken with food or without food and also the full
amount can be taken at one time. The patient has been suggested with calcium and vitamin
supplement to get curd quickly (Lappe et al. 2017).

6ANATOMY ASSIGNMENT
References
Black, D.M. and Rosen, C.J., 2016. Postmenopausal osteoporosis. New England Journal of
Medicine, 374(3), pp.254-262.
Di Lorenzo, F., Silipo, A., Molinaro, A., Parrilli, M., Schiraldi, C., D’Agostino, A., Izzo, E.,
Rizza, L., Bonina, A., Bonina, F. and Lanzetta, R., 2017. The polysaccharide and low molecular
weight components of Opuntia ficus indica cladodes: structure and skin repairing
properties. Carbohydrate polymers, 157, pp.128-136.
Dunne, M.W., Puttagunta, S., Giordano, P., Krievins, D., Zelasky, M. and Baldassarre, J., 2015.
A randomized clinical trial of single-dose versus weekly dalbavancin for treatment of acute
bacterial skin and skin structure infection. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 62(5), pp.545-551.
Edwards, M.H., Dennison, E.M., Sayer, A.A., Fielding, R. and Cooper, C., 2015. Osteoporosis
and sarcopenia in older age. Bone, 80, pp.126-130.
Lappe, J., Watson, P., Travers-Gustafson, D., Recker, R., Garland, C., Gorham, E., Baggerly, K.
and McDonnell, S.L., 2017. Effect of vitamin D and calcium supplementation on cancer
incidence in older women: a randomized clinical trial. Jama, 317(12), pp.1234-1243.
Marcucci, G. and Brandi, M.L., 2015. Rare causes of osteoporosis. Clinical Cases in Mineral
and Bone Metabolism, 12(2), p.151.
Nimrouzi, M. and Zarshenas, M.M., 2015. Holistic approach to functional constipation:
Perspective of traditional Persian medicine. Chinese journal of integrative medicine, pp.1-6.
Sanders, M., Jones, S., Löwenstein, O., Jansen, J.P., Miles, H. and Simpson, K., 2015. New
formulation of sustained release naloxone can reverse opioid induced constipation without
compromising the desired opioid effects. Pain Medicine, 16(8), pp.1540-1550.
Slattery, S.A., Niaz, O., Aziz, Q., Ford, A.C. and Farmer, A.D., 2015. Systematic review with
meta‐analysis: the prevalence of bile acid malabsorption in the irritable bowel syndrome with
diarrhoea. Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics, 42(1), pp.3-11.

7ANATOMY ASSIGNMENT
Sorg, H., Tilkorn, D.J., Hager, S., Hauser, J. and Mirastschijski, U., 2017. Skin wound healing:
an update on the current knowledge and concepts. European Surgical Research, 58(1-2), pp.81-
94.
Weaver, C.M., Alexander, D.D., Boushey, C.J., Dawson-Hughes, B., Lappe, J.M., LeBoff, M.S.,
Liu, S., Looker, A.C., Wallace, T.C. and Wang, D.D., 2016. Calcium plus vitamin D
supplementation and risk of fractures: an updated meta-analysis from the National Osteoporosis
Foundation. Osteoporosis International, 27(1), pp.367-376.
Zhao, J.G., Zeng, X.T., Wang, J. and Liu, L., 2017. Association between calcium or vitamin D
supplementation and fracture incidence in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review
and meta-analysis. Jama, 318(24), pp.2466-2482.