1. Diagnosis of the disease and justification (1 paragraph)
The patient is suffering from constipation. Constipation mostly refers to having bowel movement less than three times per week. Constipation is usually accompanied by hard stools or passing of the stool is difficult. Furthermore, the patient suffering from constipation is experiencing pain while passing stools or he/she may not be able to have a bowel movement after straining for more than 10 minutes. The symptoms of constipation may also be, as a result, of the condition of the feces that changes from the normal or usual feces. Constipation is, therefore, refer to both the time it takes the unabsorbed materials to travel from the mouth to anus through small intestine, colon, and rectum and out through the anus, and the condition of the feces (LANDEFELD, 2014).
Causes of constipation
Lifestyle and diet: reduced diet and dormant lifestyle are the most frequent causes of constipation. Eating too much poor food, lack of enough water and fluids, and lack of exercise will trigger poor digestive health.
Medication: constipation is also caused by the side effect of some of the prescribed medication. Medication such as anticonvulsants, blood pressure treatments, laxatives, supplements, narcotics, antacids, and antidepressant's will cause constipation.
Health conditions: constipation may arise as a side effect of health conditions. These health conditions include irritable bowel syndrome, spinal cord injury, stroke, hypothyroidism, Parkinson’s disease, pregnancy, lupus, and diabetes.
Aging: as individual grows older, the chances of getting constipation increase. This is because old people tend to stay for long without physical exercise, and they tend to eat low-fibre foods.
2. What tests are done to confirm the diagnosis of the disease and how do these work (max 1 page)
The tests perform to confirm for the diagnosis of the disease are both physical examination and medical laboratory.
Under the physical examination, it involves rectal exam and the doctor will ask the following questions from the patient.
The doctor will sort to know the length of the time the patient had been having constipation and the number of days between two bowel movements. The definition of the constipation is controversial and hence the constipation in most cases is based on the route bowel habit of an individual. The significance changes in bowel habits that include decreased rate of stool or increased effort in movement of the bowel will suggest that the person is suffering constipation. Secondly, the doctor will ask the patient to know if constipation is worse when he/she is stressful. Our bodies usually respond to the way we feel. Enteric nervous system is part of the nervous system that controls the digestion. Those with anxiety often have bowel trouble and, as a result, it cause constipation. Thirdly, the doctor will sort to know the color, consistency and shape of the stool. A crucial change in the color of the stool can serve as a red flag to individual health status. The color of the stool for a normal person is normally brown because of the bile that is produced by the liver to aid in the digestion process. When the stool is black, it may be a suggestive of an internally bleeding and is usually sticky and smells bad, and it may delay a bowel movement. On the other hand, light-colour to very light-colour stool may be an indicative of the block in the flow of bile. On top of that, the size and inconsistency of the stool are indicative of a problem if it is a pencil-like. When the colon is clogged by the impacted fecal matter, the passage will become narrower, and the stool will be a pencil-like. Fourthly, the doctor should seek to know if there is any bleeding associated with bowel movement and if there is any abdominal pain. The hard stools cause a tearing of the tissue of the anus, as a result, of straining to them out (LANDEFELD, 2014). .
In laboratory tests, it includes the measurement of the pressure of the anus and rectum, complete blood count (CBC), colonoscopy, stool studies and x-ray of the abdomen. Anorectic manometry is a test carries out to assess patients with fecal incontinence. CBC is test that gives information about the cells in the blood of a patient. Raise or reduced in the number of a given cell in the blood is an indicative of certain disease. A stool study involves collection and analysis of the feces to detect the presence or absence of a medical condition. Fecal occult blood test is used to analyze conditions that cause bleeding in the gastrointestinal system. The abdominal x-ray test is an imaging test to observe at structures and organs in the belly area (Garber, et al., 2010).
3. What systems are affected – at least 1 or more of the three systems —diagram flow chart with parts and explanation included (max 1 page per system)
Constipation affects the immune system and digestive system among other systems. The digestive system comprises of a sequence of hollow joint organs from the mouth to the anus. These organs are the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine (appendix, cecum, colon, and rectum), and anus.
Chewing is the initial step of digestion, and it is done in the mouth. The food has to be broken down into small bits to aid in the digestion process in the stomach. The big chunk of food make digestion difficult and move around the intestine, as a result, it causes constipation. The function of the large intestine is to absorb water, and any remaining nutrients from digested food passed from the small intestine. It changes the waste from the liquid state to solid matter refers to as stool. The rectum is located between the last part of the colon and the anus, and its function is to store stool before a bowel movement. When the colon absorbed too much water from the stool, stool would become dry and hard causing the tool to spend too much time in the colon. The stool moves through the anus from the rectum during a bowel movement. When constipation is not treated it causes constipation such as hemorrhoids, anal fissures, bowel perforation, fecal impaction, and rectal prolapsed. Anal fissures are tears around the anus’ skin because of over-stretching while passing out hard stool. Bowel perforation occurs when hard stool punctures through the intestine and leaks into the abdominal area. Rectal impaction occurs when hard stool is tightly held in the rectum and intestine that usual peristaltic movement is insufficient to expel it out. Rectal prolapsed happens when intestinal lining is slightly pushed out of the anal opening while straining for a bowel movement. Hemorrhoids occur because of too much strain on the anal sphincter (Botha et al., 2008).
mouth
4. What happens in the disease and why does it affect these systems/What physiological changes have occurred to cause the disease? (1 paragraph)
In most cases, the physiological changes affecting the colonic motility do occur mostly in old people. Increased collagen deposits, myenteric dysfunction, increased binding of the plasma endorphins to intestinal receptors and reduced inhibitory nerve input to the muscle layer of the colon increases the chances of constipation. All these factors will reduce the hollow part of the intestine and, as a result, slow down bowel movement hence causing the unabsorbed food to stay for long in the gastrointestinal (National Institute on Aging, 2005).
5. What types of medications and or treatments are used to correct the problem? Why are these medications or treatment prescribed? (1 paragraph)
The individual should take diets that have high fiber content and should drink enough liquids. The fiber will more help the stool to stay soft and s smoothly through the colon. Liquids will help the fiber to be more effective. On top of that, one should engage in physical activity as this will reduce constipation. One should go to the bathroom when he/she has an urge and should not wait. People should also avoid medications such as calcium channel blockers, antacids that contain aluminum and calcium, narcotics, some antidepressants, iron supplement, and diuretics (Greenberger, et al., 2009)
6. Genetic basis for disease/Lifestyle basis for disease/bacterial/viral infection (1 paragraph)
The genetic basis of the disease includes inheritable disorders such as metabolic disorders. Metabolic disorders like diabetes and hypothyroidism slow the process the body uses to obtain energy from food. Hypothyroidism disorder is the foundation for the production of the too little thyroid hormone by the body and hence it will trigger many of the function of the body to slow down. Aging affect the regularity of the bowel movement, as a result, of the gradual loss of nerves stimulating the muscles in the colon. Some may ignore the urge to have a bowel movement and subsequently may lead to constipation. The habit of overusing the over-the-counter laxatives will result in constipation because laxatives can damage muscles, tissues and nerves in the large intestines. When the large bowel is damaged by the parasites, it results in diarrhea that may alternate constipation. Obstipation is refers to constipation that resists treatment (Greenberger, et. al., 2009).
References
Greenberger, N. J., & Weisman, R. (2009). 4 weeks to healthy digestion: A Harvard doctor's proven plan for reducing symptoms of diarrhea, constipation, heartburn, and more. New York: McGraw-Hill.
LANDEFELD, C. (2014). Current diagnosis and treatment: Geriatrics. New york: Mcgraw-hill.
National Institute on Aging (2005). Concerned about constipation?. Bethesda, Md.: National Institute on Aging, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health
, University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary Science. Dept. of Paraclinical Sciences. Section Pharmacology and Toxicology, Botha, C.J. (Christoffel Jacobus), Venter, Elna (2008). Microcystis aeruginosa.
In Rose, S. (2014). Constipation: A practical approach to diagnosis and treatment.
Garber, J. S., Gross, M., & Slonim, A. D. (2010). Avoiding common nursing errors. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
