Chapter 1 & 2 Flashcards
What is pathophysiology?
The study of functional or physiologic changes in the body that result from disease processes
Disease
Deviation from the normal structure of any part, organ, system, or from a state of wellness
Primary prevention
Protection from developing a disease or experience in an injury (wearing a helmet when riding a bike)
Secondary Prevention
Interventions that occur after illness occurs. The goal is to stop the progression of the disease (ex: telling ppl to take aspirin to prevent second heart attack or providing modified work for injured workers)
Tertiary prevention
Focuses on helping people manage complicated, long term problems such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc
What does evidence based research not take into account?
Cost, availability, or social and cultural factors
Iatrogenic
A treatment that may cause a disease (UTI following catheterization or bone marrow damage following prescribed drug)
Pathogenesis
Development of the disease or the sequence of events involved in the changes related to the specific disease process
Subclinical state
Pathological changes occur but no obvious manifestations are exhibited by the patient (ex: kidney damage may progress to renal failure before symptoms are shown)
Latent/silent/incubation stage
Time between exposure to the microorganism and onset of symptoms. Can last a few days or weeks
Prodromal period
The time in the early development of a disease when one is aware of a change in the body but the signs are non specific (ex: fatigue, headache). Lab tests are negative during prodromal period
Signs
Objective indicators
Symptoms
Subjective feelings
Syndrome
Collection of signs and symptoms often affecting more than one organ
Precipitating factor
Condition that triggers an acute episode, such as a seizure
Tissues are frequently modified as a response to ?
Hormonal stimulation or environmental stimuli such as irritation
Hyperplasia
Increased number of cells resulting in an enlarged tissue mass. Can be compensatory to meet increased demands or pathologic when there is a hormone imbalance. Increased chance of cancer when there is hyperplasia
Metaplasia
Occurs when one mature cell type is replaced by a different mature cell type (can result from a vitamin A deficiency)
Dysplasia
Cells vary in size and shape, large nuclei are frequently present and rate of mitosis is increased (looking for this in pap smears)
Anaplasia
Cells that are undifferentiated with variable nuclear and cell structures and numerous mitotic figures. Characteristic of cancer and is the basis for grading the aggressiveness of a tumor
Neoplasia
New growth (tumor)
Apoptosis
Programmed cell death which is a normal occurrence in the body but it may increase when cell development is abnormal, cell numbers are excessive, or cells are injured/aged
Ischemia
Decreased supply of oxygenated blood to a tissue or organ
What are some ways of injuring cells in the body? (Apoptosis)
Ischemia, physical agents (hot/cold), mechanical damage (pressure or tearing of tissue), chemical toxins, microorganism, abnormal metabolites accumulating in cells, nutritional deficits, imbalance of fluids or electrolytes
Exogenous
Chemicals from the environment
Endogenous
Chemicals from inside the body
What happens after cell death?
Nucleus of the cell disintegrates, the cells undergo lysis and release lysosomal enzymes into the tissue which causes inflammation. If a large number of cells have died, inflammation can be extensive causing the destruction of additional cells. The enzymes released from the dead cells can diffuse into blood
Lysis
Dissolution that occurs following cell death
Necrosis
Group of cells die
What are the different kinds of necrosis?
Liquefaction, coagulative, fat, caseous, infarction
Liquefaction necrosis
Dead cells liquefy under the influence of certain cell enzymes. Ex: when brain tissue dies or certain bacterial infections in which a cavity may develop into an affected area
Coagulative necrosis
Occurs when cell proteins are altered or denatured (similar to the coagulation that occurs when cooking eggs) and the cells retain some form for a time after death. Ex: MI
Fat necrosis
Occurs when fatty tissue is broken down into fatty acids in the presence of infection or certain enzymes (can cause inflammation)
Caseous necrosis
Thick, yellow, “cheesy” substance forms. Ex: TB
Infarction
Area of dead cells resulting from lack of oxygen
Gangrene
Area of necrotic tissue that has been invaded by bacteria
