Pathophysiology Paper

It is vital that healthcare professionals are able to understand the reasons of which why a patient feels ill. Diagnosing or only being able to identify the conditions presented by a patient is merely part of the process. The understanding of an illness provides a more effective means of treatment as it enables one to practically use the information they have. Pathophysiology presents the biological processes involved in a disease, it provides explanations for the causes of diseases.

Mr Smith is a former truck driver who is a 63 year old male, for the last 20 years he has been taking medication for both hypertension and diabetes however his administration has not been consistent.

Blood pressure and blood glucose levels have been observed by Mr Smith but not on a regular basis, these irregular practices of monitoring blood component levels as well as medication administration are detrimental to the effectiveness of treatment. Mr Smith smokes 15 cigarettes daily, smokers have a much higher chance of developing atherosclerosis, heart conditions and stroke as cigarette smoke causes in systemic inflammation which has associated with acute coronary syndrome and plaque rupture (Adam 2013).

It appears that Mr Smith is suffering from a cardiovascular disease as the majority of his presenting features are all associated with it. Mr Smith has got Dyspnea as he reports shortness of breath that has been worsening over the last five years, his Dyspnea is more so associated with physical activity. In most cases Dyspnea is caused by Cardiac ishemia, lung disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure (Sarkar S, 2006) therefore the management Dyspnea varies as it usually indicates another condition.

This underlyin...

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...re shortness of breath during night presenting itself in episodes, usually where the individual suddenly wakes up quite panicked and anxious it known as Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea (Bozkurt). Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea is caused by abnormal blood or fluid in the lungs, usually the individual stands up the fluid moves down that is why when Mr Smith has an paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea episode he is relieved by sitting on the side of his bed, in doing so the fluid moves down away from his lungs. If Mr Smith does suffer from pulmonary hypertension and if it were to worsen his paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea would not be relieved by standing up or sitting down on the side of his bed as the pulmonary hypertension eventually weaken the left ventricle of his heart which in affect would not be able to pump out the fluid resulting in continued shortness of breath (T. doug).