Pathophysiology
QUESTION
Select two of the following questions for your discussion response. Indicate which question you have chosen using the format displayed in the “Discussion Forum Sample.”
1. From a pathophysiological perspective, describe the disease mechanism of spinal trauma. Discuss complications associated with spinal trauma based upon time of injury.
2. What are some the recent discoveries surrounding the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease, and how could these discoveries lead to new treatments? Include your resources in your response.
3. What are some of the leading theories that attempt to describe the pathophysiology underlying fibromyalgia? Which ones are best supported? Include your resources in your response.
Pathophysiology
ANSWER
Pathophysiology is an alteration to the normal functioning of the body, which results to a disease or an injury. Spinal trauma, also known as spinal cord injury is an injury to any part of the spinal cord or damage to the nerves at the tail of the spinal canal. Spinal trauma leads to general body weaknesses and damages the functioning of the body below the position of the injury (Staff, 2021).
Pathophysiological disease mechanism of spinal trauma
The pathophysiology of spinal trauma is divided into an acute impact or a compression. An acute impact injury is a violent shock on the spinal cord, which damages the grey matter leading to hemorrhagic necrosis. This is initiated by reduced blood flow in the grey matter. On the other hand, spinal trauma as a result of compression takes place when a weight encroaches the spinal cord leading to parenchymal pressure.
Complications associated with spinal trauma based on time of injury
Short-term complications associated with spinal damage for instance in the case of an accident include numbness, loss of control over one’s bladder, a twisted neck, paralysis of a part of the body and difficulty with moving or balance. Long-term spinal trauma complications include low blood pressure, pain, arrhythmias, bradycardia and low heart rate (Hagen, 2015).
Question 2: Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurologic dysfunction that leads to the shrinkage of the brain and the death of brain cells. Recent research has discovered a new cause of Alzheimer’s disease known as the ‘seeding’ process, which occurs in brain cells (Organizations, 2021). This implies the formation of neurons that are knit together due to a damaged cellular process which leads to the leakage of a lethal protein known as ‘tau’ into healthy brain cells. This leakage propels the seeding process which leads to tau muddles, in turn causing damages and loss of memory.
How these discoveries could lead to new treatments
Researchers argued that this discovery would help scientists discover how Alzheimer’s disease that is not inherited occurs, hence developing mechanisms to counter the disease. The discovery of tau tangles will help scientists develop treatments that focus on reducing tau entanglements and compensating the loss of the normal function of tau (Kurt R. Brunden, 2019).