Period 1
Case # 101
Dylan, a middle-aged man, is a hardworking, dedicated fitness addict. He works out
every day but has recently switched to a stricter diet in order to train himself for all of his
upcoming marathons. Dylan’s diet excludes all processed foods; he does his best to eat
all foods in its raw state. In addition, he only drinks water and all-natural juices. Dylan
runs five miles every morning and five miles every night. He feels extremely fatigued as
well as occasional headaches throughout the day but does his best to just shake it off.
When marathon day comes around, Dylan feels as though he has both physically and
mentally prepared himself to run this fifty-mile race. He is determined to place in the top
ten for his age division and will do anything to reach his goal. As the gun is fired, Dylan
gets a good, steady start; he has no intentions of stopping or walking throughout this
race at all. After every mile, there is a water station for the runners; Dylan grabs some
water on the run every two or three miles. He pours the water on him and chugs each
water bottle while he is still running. The longer he runs the weaker he becomes. His
muscles begin to ache and he feels very light-headed. Furthermore, he feels nauseous
despite the breakfast he had which consisted of many fruits and yogurt. Half way
through the race, Dylan is becoming very disoriented and starts to have double vision of
the track and runners in front of him. Finally, by mile thirty Dylan passes out by the
water station where he is picked up by an ambulance and taken to a hospital. The
doctor’s first expectation was to treat Dylan for dehydration but after further
examination, he realized that this wasn’t the problem; Dylan had drank plenty of water
throughout his race. After hearing all of his symptoms, determine what mineral
deficiency Dylan is suffering from.
Case # 102
Case Study
Owen is the starting quarterback at his high school and is one of the best in the
state. Everyone in town loves Owen. The guys all want to be around him and all the
girls want him. Although Owen focuses at practice, he is unmotivated and lazy during
the off-season. Therefore, Owen is a tad bit overweight.
One of Owen’s friends, Danny went vegetarian 2 years ago and lost a lot of
weight but remains very healthy. Owen is now thinking about doing the same, so that he
can maybe get a scholarship for football to college. Ever since Owen left meats like
beef, lamb, pork, and chicken out of his diet he has noticed that he has been getting
more acne than ever. His helmet has started to rub against his acne and bothers him
every minute when he is playing. Along with his acne he has realized that his reaction
time is getting worse and worse. Owen has trouble catching the ball when it is snapped
to him and it is really affecting his team and personal stats. One game with his team
down by a touchdown they needed him to come up big. He failed and fumbled the snap
because of his delayed reaction time.
Owen has been getting sick more frequently and has rashes all over his body.
His girlfriend is a bit grossed out by it and seems to hang out with him less and less.
Diarrhea is taking over Owen’s life and his hair is slowly decaying. Sometimes Owen
leaves practice for 45 minutes just to take care of his diarrhea. He is confused at why all
this is happening to him. He thought he would improve his performance but it has only
had a negative affect on and off the field. Can you help Owen figure out what is wrong,
and help him continue his exceptional football career?
Case # 103
Sam’s Deficiency
Sam is an all State all County Volleyball player at Southern High. She is 16 years old
and Sam is very interested in playing D1 Volleyball in college so over the past year Sam
has been extremely focused on training and eating health so that she can impress the
scouts in September. Sam became a vegan about a year ago from being an omnivore
so that she could lose weight to practice better. Recently during practices Sam find it
hard to stay focused and finds it difficult to finish practice’s due to muscle pains.
Through out practices and games Sam has been experiencing terrible thigh and
shoulder aches. She always played through the pain and would never tell her coaches
or parents because she wanted to keep playing. It hurts her more and more every
practice but she needs all the practice she can get to impress the college scouts. Due to
the long hour practice’s and school work, Sam has been trying to get a good night sleep
but it seems impossible. Every night she goes to bed a little bit early but seems more
tired everyday. Sam also feels like her nails are not as strong as they used to be. She is
starting to get nervous because the scouts are coming to her school next week and she
doesn’t know what’s wrong with her or know if she will be strong enough to compete
that day.
Case # 104
Mineral Case Study
Sydney is a 27 year old Asian woman and has been excited to be a
mother, but things just do not seem to work out for her and her husband,
Danny. Sydney is always having problems getting pregnant, just when she
thinks she is, she isn’t. She has gone to the doctors multiple times and
has been prescribed depression pills. She always complains and says the
pills don’t help! Her husband says he does not know who she is anymore. The fun,
loving, energetic, and spontaneous Sydney has been replaced by a moody, and sad
Sydney. They don’t know what is wrong with her. She has been very down lately and
shows fatigue in everything she does. Sydney and her husband used to enjoy going
hiking once every other week. But ever since these symptoms started, they have not
been hiking in over 2 months.
Sydney’s periods are heavier and irregular, she has been complaining
that her nails are thin and brittle as well as her hair. Her husband thinks it’s from all of
the miscarriages but she tells him that’s not the problem. Sydney has also been a vegan
for more than 4 months, she doesn’t eat any meat or foods that contain animal
products. Her diet consist of sweet potatoes, asparagus, cauliflower, egg plants, and
strawberries. Ever since Sydney started eating differently she has been very moody.
Danny has tried to cook other meals that are filled with nutrients and vitamins but she
just won’t eat, but when she does she only eats a very small amount. Danny misses his
wife and wants her not be so moody and sad.
Case #105
Pregnancy Gone Wrong
Brenda is 30 years old. Brenda is pregnant with her first baby she has been
nervous about the pregnancy being her first and all, but she doesn’t know what
to expect during the nine months of the baby in her tummy. She has been getting
sick from the sight and smell of meat and fish products. The other day her husband
Jeffery was baking a ham for the holidays and she said she couldn’t be in the room
without wanting to blow the oven up. The smell and sight of any meat or fish made
her stomach twist and turn. Her diet has changed over time from an omnivore to a
vegan. She used to only eat meat and fish products like she would devour them but
she hasn’t been eating the same at all. She gets tired very easy it is difficult for her
to remember. She is weak she gets winded from a trip down the stairs. She walks
around the house in fuzzy sox and thick gloves. She is experiencing numbness of
hands and feet and headaches. Her husband said she is getting paler by the day. He
is scared she might turn into a ghost and he’s scared the baby might really turn into
a ghost.
Case #106
Adam is a freshman in college who has been playing football since middle
school. Every year before he begins his season, he does some intense weight training
to gain muscle and changes his diet to burn excess fat. This season however is going to
be special, since he wants to impress NFL scouts that could make him a professional
football player. Adam also has many other bigger stronger players on his varsity team
and really wants himself to stand out as the perfect pick. He is more than focused and in
addition to diet and exercise, he has logged more time on the field. Every morning,
Adam starts the day with a homemade raw vegetable and fruit smoothie. He enjoys
them and even continues to snack on them to remain full throughout the day. He cut
back on his simple sugars like chocolate and prefers small amounts lean ground beef
instead of pork, fish, and chicken. Adam also hates to consume Spinach and dark leafy
greens since he believes they make him gag.
Adam has noticed however that his performance has been sluggish since he first
started training as a result of a “steep decline in energy”. In addition to low energy, he
has been experiencing several anxiety attacks that make everyone wonder about him. If
you see him on the field, he is an entirely different person. Adam also complains of
several headaches and an inability to sleep. Looks like Adam might not be able to be a
professional this year. In fact, the way he is annoyed by getting asked these questions,
he is definitely irritable. As his physician, I can’t help but worry especially since I
conducted a big physical examination and the results were really bad. I suspect his
bones are becoming weaker and his heart beat is definitely abnormal. Who can tell me
what Adam’s problem is?
Case #107
Case #108
Carl Greasemen is a 22 year old mexican male with diabetes. Carl is on his college
basketball team. lately Carl has been feeling a loss of appetite, weakness, dehydration and
lethargy. he does not eat much poultry and not a lot of fish. He doesn’t eat a lot of fiber
daily. His coach has approached him after practice and stated he’s not playing like he used
to and has to get in better shape if he wants to start in games. Recently Carl has been
finding it difficult to swallow. Carl has also had trouble catching his breath. Carl’s diet
consists of lots of fast foods such as meals everyday at the college’s local 5 Bro’s
restaurant where they serve sodium packed fatty hotdogs and enormous portions of fries.
Outside of his daily meals at the 5 Bro’s restaurant Carl only really drinks sodas and eats
chips. This diet that Carl’s on is leading to a path of destruction for his body.