Abstract
The purpose of this study is to analyze the organ systems that were studies previously in class and determine the common disease connected with one of the following systems: integument system, skeletal system, digestive system, and urinary system of the human. I have chosen the digestive system due to the fact it unites a set of vital organs. With the malfunction of at least one of them the whole body will be influenced by the consequences. The organ which was chosen to be studied is stomach. The first part of the case study includes the brief analysis of the preferred organ within the system. The final stage of the research will cover the common diseases and methods of curing them.
Health - is a natural state of the organism, at which it is free of any diseases, moreover, it is balanced with the environment. Thus, health - is the normal, harmonious state of functinoning of all the organ systems, not only under normal conditions but during stressful factors (physical and mental). Our health is determined by the numerous factors: social biological genetic and acquired, which play an important role in maintaining our health and in certain bad conditions can cause the emergence and development of the disease. The concept of health is divided into physical and mental. Physical health - is a normal functioning of intact tissues and organs, as a consequence - the absence of pain.
However, sometimes people are exposed to external factors that might influence and cause the development of organism’s malfunction, disease. Our organism is divided onto different systems of organs: circulatory, digestive, endocrine, muscular, reproductive, nervous and so on. Each of them is comprised by the set of organs with the specific purpose. Digestive system, for instance, unites all the organs that take part in the process of transforming food products into energy, which is later on transferred across all the systems. I have chosen the stomach, due to the fact that in my opinion it plays one of the most essential roles in the whole body: it does the most difficult part of the whole process of digestion: it mixes up food an acids, divides food onto nutrients.
The mostly occurring disease, connected with stomach is gastritis. Moreover, it has become very common among the youngsters, due to their lifestyle and eating habits.
Gastritis is an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach. There are two types of this disease: acute and chronic gastritis. Acute gastritis develops as a result of poisoning with acids or alkalis; being exposed to the radiation for the long period of time; abusing of high doses of certain drugs, such as aspirin. In this case, there is an acute-burning pain in the upper abdomen, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and weakness. Acute gastritis requires urgent examination by a doctor and, in severe cases - hospitalization. After treatment, acute gastritis may progress to chronic, however, often chronic gastritis is a distinct disease.
There are a lot of reasons and causes that induce gastritis. A clear understanding of the causes of chronic gastritis were formed relatively recently, after the discovery of the bacteria Helicobacter pylori. It became apparent that the bacteria, that colonize the gastric mucosa, are the most frequent causative agent of gastritis with high acidity of gastric juice. Besides this the causes of chronic gastritis also include: Repeated and prolonged violations of the food (not following the healthy diet, abusing the consumption of “junk food”); consumption of spicy food and roughage; a passion for hot food; poor chewing, or eating cold food on the contrary; bad habits such as smoking, abusing of alcohol beverages and long uncontrolled use of drugs, irritant to the mucous membrane of the stomach (salicylates, certain antibiotics, sulfonamides, etc.); occupational hazards (poisoning with lead, coal, iron powder, etc.); endogenous intoxication during renal disease, gout (at which the mucous membrane of the stomach produces urea, uric acid, indole, skatole) and the last one is genetic predisposition. Besides all the mentioned factors there also some others.
One of the most important steps in prevention or curing the disease is the ability to determine the type, stage of the disease as soon as possible. The symptoms of the illness must be known. The following symptoms are the malfunctions, that are the difference between the healthy stomach and the one hit by the gastritis. In our case, the main symptoms of this illness are: ache or sharp burning pain in the upper abdomen, that becomes aggravated or disappears during the meal; nausea; uncontrolled vomiting; lack or absence of appetite; constant belching; flatulence; a feeling of overcrowding in the upper abdomen after eating as well as weight loss. Furthermore, chronic gastritis develops gradually and occurs with frequent relapses.
The symptoms of chronic gastritis sometimes are not sufficiently specific. Therefore, diagnosis and treatment of this disease should be conducted by the qualified medical doctor -gastroenterologist. To confirm the diagnosis and determine the form of chronic gastritis specific tests might be conducted: Ultrasonography; visual inspection of the upper gastrointestinal tract by gastroscope - a fiber-optic tube that transmits the image on the monitor; biopsy of the gastric mucosa; study of gastric secretion isolated gastritis with chronic and reduced secretion of gastric juice. In addition, you can sign up for a blood test for anemia, a blood test for antibodies to Helicobacter pilori, x-rays of the abdomen and other tests.
The next step in dealing with the disease is treatment. In our case, the treatment procedure relies precisely on the patient and his will to recover. Only the professional doctor can diagnose gastritis and prescribe competent therapy, depending on the form and severity of the illness. Role of the patient in the treatment of chronic gastritis is extremely large. After the treatment of this disease prolonged diet and certain medicines are mandatory: Balanced diet which consists of a lot of fruit and vegetables, no spicy or fried food, products that stimulate acid secretion should be removed from ration. No alcohol, smoking, coffee or something even close to this. Drugs play essential role in getting better also, prescribed medicine normalize the acidity of gastric juice, and drugs that help to recover the gastric mucosa. In case of confirmation of being infected by Helicobacter pilori – antibiotic therapy is assigned.
Finally, fighting each disease is not an easy thing to do. It will require a lot of dedication from the patient’s side first of all. Due to the technological progress – all the necessary means for detecting and treating the disease at the earliest stage are possible. Patience and person’s will to recover is also needed.
Works Cited
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"Stomach Disorders: MedlinePlus." National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 July 2013. <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/stomachdisorders.html>.
