BIOL122 Asthma Case Study: Pathophysiology and Management

This case study provides a detailed overview of asthma, focusing on the pathophysiology and pharmacological management of a female patient named Julia White. The study outlines the pathological changes during an asthma attack, including triggered factors like allergens, mucous production, airway inflammation, and IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reactions. It also describes the clinical manifestations such as narrowed airways, wheezing, and dysphonic speech. The prescribed medicine, salbutamol, is discussed in terms of its mechanism of action, topical uses, and potential interactions with alcohol. Finally, the study provides essential education for the patient, including recommendations against use during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Desklib provides solved assignments and past papers for students.

Asthma
Name of the student:
Name of the university
Author note:

Julia White
Female
Case study
Healthy
weight
range
Asthma
as
medical
condition
Lives with
her family
with husband
and children
History of
allergy
Non
smoker
Non
alcoholi
c
Prescribed
medicine

Pathological changes during asthma attack
Trigged factor
(allergen)
Airway
inflammation
(Maryn &
Weenink, 2015).
Ig E mediated
hypersensitivity
reaction
Vasodilatation of
mast cell
Smooth bronchial
muscle
contraction
Mucous
production
due to
vasodilatati
on
Narrow
airway and
muscle
tightening
Wheezing ,
coughing,
shortness of

Asthma patient
Figure : comparison between normal airway and
asthmatic airway
Source: (Ferreira et al., 2014)

Clinical manifestation
Trigged factor
(allergen)
Narrowed airway (Maryn
& Weenink, 2015).
Wheezing due
to lungs spasm
(Ferreira et al.,
2014). dysphonic
Difficulty in
speaking

Diagram of wheezing
Figure : whistle sound due to spasm of
lungs
Source : (Honkoop et al., 2015)

Prescribed medicine
Figure : structure of salbutamol
Source : (Coulson, 2014).

salbutamol
acts at β2-
adrenoreceptor
s
smooth
musclebinds to the
epinephrine’s
active site
(Neame et
al., 2015).
Make
more
cAM
P release of K+
along with
decrease of Ca +
(Coulson, 2014). contractio
n
Drug of choice

Salbutamol (topical)
wound
repair
processe
s
It also curbs the
excessive
behavior of the
cell (Coulson,
2014).
normal skin
regeneration
Topical use

Education given to the patient
Education
Interactio
n with
alcohol
Not
recommende
d for use in
pregnant
women
(Ferreira et
al., 2014).
Not
recommended
while breast
feeding (Patel et
al., 2013).

references :
Coulson, C. J. (2014). Molecular mechanisms of drug action. CRC Press.
Ferreira, M. A., Matheson, M. C., Tang, C. S., Granell, R., Ang, W., Hui,
J., ... & Bui, M. (2014). Genome-wide association analysis
identifies 11 risk variants associated with the asthma with hay
fever phenotype. Journal of Allergy and Clinical
Immunology, 133(6), 1564-1571.
Honkoop, P. J., Loijmans, R. J., Termeer, E. H., Snoeck-Stroband, J. B.,
van den Hout, W. B., Bakker, M. J., ... & Sont, J. K. (2015).
Symptom-and fraction of exhaled nitric oxide–driven strategies
for asthma control: a cluster-randomized trial in primary
care. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 135(3), 682-
688.
Maryn, Y., & Weenink, D. (2015). Objective dysphonia measures in the
program Praat: smoothed cepstral peak prominence and acoustic
voice quality index. Journal of Voice, 29(1), 35-43.
Neame, M., Aragon, O., Fernandes, R. M., & Sinha, I. (2015).
Salbutamol or aminophylline for acute severe asthma: how to
choose which one, when and why?. Archives of Disease in
Childhood-Education and Practice, 100(4), 215-222.
Patel, M., Pilcher, J., Reddel, H. K., Pritchard, A., Corin, A., Helm,
C., ...& Beasley, R. (2013). Metrics of salbutamol use as
predictors of future adverse outcomes in asthma. Clinical &
Experimental Allergy, 43(10), 1144-1151.
Wang, H., Zhang, Y., Li, H., Du, B., Ma, H., Wu, D., & Wei, Q. (2013). A