Anatomy in Humans: Analysis of Joyce's Health Issues and Treatment

This assignment presents a case study of a 70-year-old woman named Joyce, focusing on her health issues related to aging. The analysis begins with Joyce's skin integrity issues, explaining how aging, intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and clinical conditions like pruritus can lead to skin deterioration. It explores how warfarin use can slow wound healing and cause skin necrosis. The assignment then examines Joyce's experiences with constipation and diarrhea, linking these issues to the medications she takes and offering natural remedies like increased water intake and probiotic-rich foods. The core of the assignment focuses on Joyce's diagnosis of osteoporosis. It explains the condition to her son, Matthew, and identifies vitamin D deficiency, calcium loss, and decreased estrogen levels as key contributing factors. The assignment concludes by explaining why vitamin D supplementation was recommended, highlighting the role of vitamin D in calcium absorption and the potential consequences of vitamin D deficiency, such as hyperparathyroidism and bone loss.

Running Head: ANATOMY IN HUMANS
ANATOMY IN HUMANS
Name of the Students
Name of the University
Author Note

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1. Joyce lives all alone in her home and she is 70 years old. Joyce fell recently and
had a fracture in her leg that was not getting cured and was taking a lot of time for the
recovery.
A) This can be justified by loss of structural integrity in her skin. The loss is due to
various clinical conditions that can arise from the skin disorders like pruritus and also from
melanoma and carcinoma (Farage et al. 2013). The functional and structural deterioration in
the skin can occur due to the process of aging among individuals. These changes in Joyce’s
skin can be very well understood by the complete analysis of cellular and molecular level
changes. The loss in the structural and functional stability of the skin begins with aging that
can be due to both the intrinsic and the extrinsic factors (Holmes et al. 2013). These factors
keep on contributing continuously for the progressive loss in skin integrity. The intrinsic way
of aging begins with the genetically determined rate that is basically due to the deposition of
the products of cellular metabolism which are very damaging. This is also stimulated by the
increased aging of cells (Kottner, Lichterfeld and Blume 2013).
B) The method of wound healing can be slowed down by the actions of skin damage.
That is affected due to the manner of using warfarin for the diagnosis of skin problems. This
can even cause necrosis of the skin and can also result in the thrombophilic abnormalities
(Holmes et al. 2013). When the warfarin therapy is started there is very high level of protein
C. Thus, if the patient suffers from a deficiency of protein C or any other kind of impairment
in the entire pathway it can lead to severe skin problems (Kottner, Lichterfeld and Blume
2013). This is observed in the delaying of wound healing that can happen after falling
amongst the older people. The poor rate of wound healing can also be due to trauma,acute
illness, surgery, and chronic disease condition. Thus, the failure of any of these processes
results in the disruption of the various cellular processes that can destroy the various healing
processes which ultimately affects the wound healing. There are also a number of other

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factors that affect the process of wound healing along with skin integrity includes nutrition,
hydration level, depth of wound and other co-morbidities (Farage et al. 2013).
2. Since Joyce has had a fall and has been affected by skin disintegration, she has
been on a number of medicines that can cause diarrhea or constipation.
A) This can be clarified by the reality that the medicines used to treat skin issues are
included in a number of categories such as antibiotics, antifungal, non-steroidal medications
that can modulate the patient's immune system (Ford, Brenner and Schoenfeld 2013). This
stimulation of the immune system often creates the issues in the patient's intestine that will
lead to constipation or diarrhea. As drugs that are used in high doses or are applied directly to
the skin, they are absorbed directly into the bloodstream, resulting in easier assimilation
within the digestive system resulting in intestinal problems (Wald 2016). These issues can
also occur when the drugs are orally consumed, as can the non-steroidal drugs change the
gastrointestinal system that can lead to diarrhea. It is therefore evident that the digestive
system and drug therapy have a reciprocal relationship as certain drugs change the
metabolism and drug absorption (Emmanuel et al. 2013).
b) There are some natural possibilities that Joyce can use to relieve constipation.
These remedies include drinking more water, as it can help to improve the movement of the
intestines (Wald 2016). Dehydration is the most common cause of constipation and can
therefore help to resolve the symptoms by drinking plenty of water. Joyce can also take a lot
of yogurt containing microorganisms-like probiotics. Probiotics are the good bacteria that
helps in the gut improvement and helps in the better digestion of food (Emmanuel et al.
2013). Joyce can therefore take food containing a lot of probiotics and fibers for constipation
therapy. Also, as they promote digestion and reduce constipation, she can take meals that are
rich in pulses. Joyce's meal should also contain clear nutritious soups that are very easy to

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digest (Ford, Brenner and Schoenfeld 2013). They help the fecal products to add the required
amount of moisture. Joyce should also eat amount of fruits and vegetables such as apples and
vegetables that contain multiple compounds that assist digest the food that contains sorbitol,
fructose and fibers. The fruits also contain a large quantity of them, which helps to reduce
constipation (Wald 2016).
3. Joyce has recently been diagnosed with osteoporosis.
a) In a very simple context that highlights the fact that his mother is suffering from
bone disorders, this can be explained to Joyce's son Matthew. Osteoporosis is a bone
condition that becomes fragile and fragile, resulting in an increased risk of breakage (Cosman
et al. 2014). This generally occurs when there is a loss of calcium in the bone minerals which
is lost much faster than the speed at which it is created again in the body. Osteoporosis is a
common disorder among older adults and hip is a common osteoporosis site. (Tella and
Gallagher 2014). It is very common in older women as the levels of estrogen fall after
menopause, resulting in loss of bone density. Osteoporosis is therefore a common problem
among older women. Osteoporosis has a distinct pathophysiological connection with
sarcopenia, resulting in the loss of muscle mass, function or strength (Bolland et al. 2014).
b) Three reasons that could have led to a loss of bone strength in Joyce’s body include
a reduction in vitamin D, a loss of calcium and a lack of estrogen in the hormone (Cosman et
al. 2014). There has been a lot of studies that focuses on the role of vitamin D in osteoporosis
growth. Since vitamin D is required to assist in calcium absorption, researchers and
physicians usually depend on the reality that you need enough calcium and vitamin D
throughout your lives to create good bones and decrease the danger of developing
osteoporosis (Tella and Gallagher 2014). The other reason for osteoporosis development
involves the loss in the level of calcium and therefore a lifelong calcium deficiency plays an

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important role in the development of osteoporosis. The low intake of calcium contributes to
reduced bone density, early bone loss and an enhanced risk of fractures (Sattui and Saag
2014). The last reason for the development of osteoporosis is that the hormone levels in older
women are reduced. The lower hormone concentrations tend to weaken the bone, so reducing
estrogen concentrations in menopausal females is one of the greatest risk variables for
osteoporosis growth (Cosman et al. 2014).
4. For Joyce, it was suggested that the nursing home supplement her with vitamin D
to assist her get the daily nutritional calcium dose (Weaver et al. 2016). The clinicians
suggested this by keeping in mind the fact that Joyce suffered from osteoporosis and it was
seen that she suffered from lower levels of calcium. The low amount of vitamin D is the
reason for elevated calcium in the blood because the low amount of vitamin D makes the
parathyroid glands overactive (Bolland et al. 2014). This triggers the rise in calcium level in
the blood to the point that the bone is unable to absorb the same amount of calcium and
therefore the calcium absorption by the bone stays small. Parathyroid gland produces
parathyroid hormone (PTH) when the body requires calcium (Bjelakovic et al. 2014). By
absorbing more calcium from food, the body responds and prevents it from leaving through
the urine. If the parathyroid tumor is not removed, all patients with hyperparathyroidism will
receive osteoporosis. Insufficient calcium intake results in secondary hyperparathyroidism,
which improves the rate of remodelling in the bone to preserve a normal serum calcium level
(Bolland et al. 2014). There are some populations at enhanced danger of vitamin D
deficiency that include obese people due to decreased bioavailability of vitamin D, people
living far from the equator owing to reduced sun exposure and, lastly, the elderly who have
impaired intestinal intake and decreased vitamin D skin output (Bjelakovic et al. 2014).
Vitamin D insufficiency also results in hyperparathyroidism, which improves bone loss. The
imbalance between resorption and bone formation results in enhanced bone tissue loss. This

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is why vitamin D supplements are ingested so that the bone can absorb more calcium and
therefore reduce the danger of osteoporosis (Weaver et al. 2016).

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