Scurvy(Deficiencies):
Causes?
Scurvy is a disease that happens when the person lack of vitamin C. It can happen at any age but it would be seen more present at an older age or with people who have mental disorders. The main cause of getting scurvy is that It usually occurs because the patient is not getting the right amount of vitamin C within their body. In addition, the patient may not be getting enough vitamin c in their diet. This usually occurs because the individual is unaware that their diet does not consist of vitamin c, which could easily have been fixed by eating high-vitamin c foods such as vegetables. Although a child could be lacking vitamin c from a young age by the mother not breastfeeding their child would also be a leading factor to not having enough vitamin C as the milk contains vitamin C as well.
Signs and Symptoms
The symptoms of getting scurvy is that the tissue inside your body will start to break down. The symptoms can start to appear around 8 to 12 weeks. The early signs that can be seen by the individual would be loss of appetite, weight loss, tiredness, irritability and lethargy which is where there would be a lack of energy so would be tired a lot of the time. After this period if the individual has not been treated there would be signs of swelling, gum disease, shortness of breath, loss of teeth and many other symptoms. In addition, if a woman was vitamin c deficient during pregnancy it could lead to the foetus having brain damage, which could affect their later lifestyle.
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How it is diagnosed?
To determine whether someone has scurvy, the physician will do a physical exam on the individual. After this, the physician could also question the individual about their diet to see if they have a balanced diet. They would ask this to see whether their diet may be the leading factor to their symptoms. After, many laboratory tests could be carried out to check whether the individual’s vitamin c levels in their blood are too low or too high. If the person would have low levels of vitamin C present, this would show a positive result for having scurvy.
How does this affect the normal function of the digestive system?
Scurvy itself does not affect the digestive system it is rather affected by the digestive system. This is because if the individual does not have a balanced diet with the right amount of vitamin c involved in it, this could mean that scurvy could develop due to a lack of the vitamin present in their diet.
How is it treated?
Scurvy can be treated by the individual changing up their diet which means that they could start to eat more vegetables such as carrots or celery which is very high in vitamin c. having orange juice or just oranges is also good as it contains high amounts of vitamin c making it as good for the body. Also their diet could also change so these vegetables could be prepared into a meal which could make it more enjoyable. By eating these vegetables, it reduces the symptoms of scurvy by a lot. Another form of treatment for scurvy is by the physician giving the patient vitamin c supplements. This can either be taken orally or through injection. This gives a boosted amount of vitamin c present in the blood. This has to be done regularly to prevent scurvy from happening. Although for very severe situations the doctor could recommend the patient very high dosages of vitamin C supplements which can be taken regularly for a very long time. It can also be prevented in babies by pregnant women making sure they take some vitamin C tablets because this will help the baby to develop properly without any complications as they get older.
Complications
The complication of getting scurvy is that in adults after a long period of time having scurvy could develop into anemia. This is a condition where the body does not have enough iron inside the body. This means that red blood cells would be lacking a protein called hemoglobin which helps to carry oxygen from the lungs around the body, without this it could lead to the individual having trouble breathing or even that you could suffocate, and this would lead to death. Also, children who may develop scurvy at a very young age would not be able to grow properly as the size of their bones would have been reduced as scurvy affects the tissue that your body makes this, therefore, leads to the shortening of the bones. Also having scurvy from a young age could affect bone structure in your teeth which could ultimately lead to your gums starting to bleed.
Reference
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/scurvy/
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155758.php
- https://www.healthline.com/health/scurvy
Crohn’s:
Causes?
Crohn’s is a disease that can also be known as chronic which means that it is a lifelong condition that once you get you can never be treated for it, where at different periods in your life the symptoms may be worse than at other times. It is one of the main conditions of IBD also known as inflammatory bowel disease. It makes the inside of your body specifically the digestive system become inflamed. It can be most commonly found around the end of the ileum or the colon. Although sometimes it can only cause small patches to form at sometimes it can extend across the whole gut and even into the bowel wall.
Signs and Symptoms
The signs and symptoms of Crohn’s disease is that you may experience diarrhea. Also, you may start to feel stomach aches and cramps in the lower part of your body, which happens due to the swelling of the intestines. You may also become more tired because of the abdominal pain and the irregular bowel movements it can affect your sleeping pattern, therefore, making you more tired. Weight loss is another symptom of Crohn’s disease as a person may lose their appetite du to the likelihood of abdominal pain in the body affecting their dietary requirements drastically. This could ultimately lead to anemia whereby the body lacks the iron required to carry oxygen around the body. Also, if a child gest Crohn’s disease it could lead to them not developing properly in the long run as their growth may be slowed down.
How it is diagnosed?
To diagnose whether an individual has Crohn’s disease, first a physician would need to check what you have eaten recently if you have travelled, your pulse and your blood pressure and temperature. After taking these tests the physician will then check blood and stool tests. They will then have an endoscopic examination which is where an endoscope will go inside the body to examine the inside parts of your body to see if things are correctly in place or if some organs are not looking how they should look. The endoscopic will be taken to view if there have been any signs of inflammation near the colon or the intestine. Another way to view if the individual has Crohn’s disease is that the individual can take a pill that can take pictures as it passes down the digestive system. If the physician finds any inflammation at all present they will quickly put the individual on treatments that they can take such as pills or tablets, to resolve the issue before it becomes a big surgical requirement.
How does this affect the normal function of the digestive system?
Getting Crohn’s disease can affect the digestive system drastically leading to the digestive system becoming damaged which may be a great problem. One reason is that the digestive system becomes inflamed which can lead to abdominal pain within the body which could affect your diet as it could then limit the number of nutrients that you are getting resulting a weight loss.
How is it treated?
Crohn’s disease is uncurable meaning that once you get it there is no way of getting rid of it, although there are many treatments in which the symptoms of Crohn’s disease can be reduced. An example of treatment of Crohn’s disease is that the individual can take steroids which can help to relive the symptoms of Crohn’s disease such as inflammation within a few days or weeks. These can either be taken as tablets one a day or as an injection. Although with the individual taking steroids is that it may lead to their development being affected such as for a child their growth may be delayed or there may even be an increase in the number of infections that they may become prone to. Another type of treatment that can be used is that the doctors can give the patients biological medicines which involve the doctor injecting the patient with medicine. It can be used to stop the symptoms from appearing and it could prevent them in the long run from ever appearing although it will not permanently remove the symptoms. It must be taken every two to eight weeks. But the side effects are that it could cause the patients to be at an increased risk to gain an infection and other symptoms may arise from it such as itching and joint pain. If the other types of treatments are not making any difference, then the doctor will have to carry out surgery on the patient. the doctor would first have to put the patient to sleep. Then the doctor would make cuts within the body to remove the inflated parts of the bowel and then stitch it back together. After this had been done the patient would stay in the hospital for a few more weeks taking medicine to reduce the pain they received.
Complications
The complications of getting Crohn’s disease is that it can cause extra problems, for example, skin problems as it can create swellings on the legs. It can cause eye problems such as episcleritis which makes the outer sector of the eye go red and inflamed. Usually, these can be treated with the doctor giving the patient regular medicine. Although one main complication that can arise is stricture which happens because there is an increasing amount of inflammation and the healing process is happening at the same time it causes scar tissue to form which only forms when the normal body tissue is destroyed by disease, injury or surgery. If many scar tissues form around the bowel it could cause the bowel to become narrower making it difficult for food to pass through or in serious cases a blockage could occur. Although there is a treatment for it the doctor will have to carry out surgery to remove the blockages. Another main complication that can arise is perforations which happen when the inflammation causes holes that lead to the substances within the bowel being poured out. It can lead to weight loss and abdominal pain. The treatment for this complication is that the doctor will carry out surgery to fix the holes.
Reference
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/crohns-disease/
- http://www.thegiunit.org.uk/services/crohns-disease/
- https://www.sepsis.org/sepsis-and/perforated-bowel/
- https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/scar-tissue
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