Period 12-13
Case #101
Got Milk!?!
Brian is a pitcher for his school’s baseball team and wants to lose some weight. He is
popular but still feels insecure about his body. He decides to go on a diet. Recently, his best
friend Jack and his girlfriend Emily had been noticing he’s been very depressed and forgetting
things lately. His coach has noticed that when Brian is pitching, he sometimes has muscle
spasms. The coach asked Brian why he has been acting this way and Brian tells him that ever
since he started his new diet which consist of non-dairy products. Brian mentioned that he has
been seeing things as well as feeling a tingling sensation in his hands, Brain and how he has
been acting so he decides to contact Brian’s parents about this new diet he is on. Brian’s parents
didn’t know that Brian wasn’t eating certain things and decided to bring him to the doctor to
figure out why Brian is feeling the way he feels and what they need to change. After a few days,
Brian started to eat dairy products but stopped eating his leafy greens, still feeling insecure about
his weight. Another few days pass by and Brian is back to pitching for his baseball team. On the
day of the championship game, Brian started to feel numbness in his arms and the hallucinations
started to kick in again. Brian didn’t want to disappoint his team but he knew something was
wrong. He left early and the team did not end up winning.
Case #102
Tommy is a soccer player for scotch plains fanwood high school. It was the
county championship game and a player from Westfield's team knocked into him. It
wasn’t a hard hit so the ref gave him a yellow card for the hit. Surprisingly Tommy broke
his arm from the hit. This baffled the trainer and caused Ms. B to sent him for testing.
The tests came back showing frail bone structure. Tommy was very surprised by these
results because he has suffered falls like this before and even harder and nothing came
of it, he just thought that he had landed wrong on the fall. The doctor prescribed him
Boniva and sent him on his way. The pitfalls didn’t stop for Tommy though, as the
weeks went on his complexion started to fade and his hair lost it’s strength. He looked
fairly ill so he went back to the doctor. Dr. Goldberg ran a few blood tests on Tommy
and they came back positive for anemia (thin blood). The doctor asked Tommy if he
was a fan of seafood, tommy said no… What mineral does he need?
Case #103
“Running” Out of Breath
Brian is a long distance runner. Recently he has experienced difficulty doing his 20 mile run
that he does weekly. Brian recently went on a vegetarian diet in hopes of eating healthier in
order to get in shape for an upcoming race. He decided that the healthier food choices
found in a vegetarian diet would help benefit his body’s condition and keep him in shape.
Brian did very little research on how to maintain a healthy vegetarian diet. He just figured
he’d eat whatever veggies he could find instead of his usual cheeseburgers and fries. The
more and more he goes on his runs the more and more he realizes he has been
encountering fatigue and shortness of breath every time. He thinks it is nothing and just
puts it to the side. Now, while he is at home and at school, he will experiencing chest pains
and weakness on a daily basis and he can’t figure out why. While he is warming up and
preparing to go on his run he is feeling dizzy and can’t seem to get his balance. It is really
throwing off the way he runs and his stamina is decreasing causing his running time to
increase. All of these symptoms he never really encountered before. What nutrient is Brians
new diet lacking and how can he reintroduce it to his body system?
Case #104
Case Study
Sara is the best swimmer on the team, she has been swimming since she was
little. She practices every day and works real hard in school to keep her spot on the
swim team. Sara is also very big into fitness and goes to the gym to help keep her body
in shape and get more arm and leg muscle. She also eats a very healthy diet to help
benefit her body and give her enough energy during practices. Sara’s friend Michelle is
a vegan and told Sara that being a vegan is more healthy and she should do it. Since
Sara is so into her health she decided to try it. Her diet started to consists of only fruits
and vegetables. Now that Sara is vegan she has not been herself or able to swim well.
She complains that her legs always hurt and has a hard time swimming. She has
become much more slower and says she just doesn't have the strength. After one lap,
she has had shortness of breath. She stopped going to the gym because she does not
have the energy or the strength. Michelle says Sara has not been wanting to go out to
get food because she has no appetite and vomits every time she eats. She complains
that she is always hot and feels a burning sensation even when she is in an air
conditioned room. Michelle is very worried for Sara. She doesn't know why she has
been acting the way she is. Michelle wonders what it could be?
Case #105
When James went to the doctor, he was told that he needed more protein. James
decided that in order to get more protein, he had to eat more meat. James almost
completely abandoned eating the healthy salads and whole grains that he used to. James
woke up a few weeks later and noticed a strange looking skin rash starting to develop on
his arms. He also measured his height with the height measuring stick on his bedroom
door. A month later he noticed that he had not grown at all. Afterward, he went to the
doctor for some blood work for his yearly physical for school sports. the doctor said there
was something wrong with the chemical compound of his blood. There were unusually high
levels of calcium, phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase. he said that James needs to eat
more vegetables and whole grains so his levels would return to normal. James being a
stubborn high school student didn't listen and continued on his diet.
Soon after his doctor visit James became very ill and was bedridden for up to 5
months. he said the sickness started after he had a seizure during one of his football
practices. James and his family are becoming very worried. James has now been out of
sports for 3 weeks. He is very upset that he can’t play football. He is still getting seizures,
his skin rash is getting worse, and his growth is still stunted. His blood chemical
compounds are still abnormal as well. James is very upset that he has been stuck in bed
for 3 week and can’t play sports. Can you help? What happened to James?
Case #106
Case Study
Bob liked to eat all of his favorite foods including foods such as cereal and fish.
These are the foods that Bob loved to eat the most. Every day after school when
he got home Bob would have some of his favorite foods however one day he
stopped eating his favorite foods. These foods were high in Phosphorus however
he stopped eating them for a period of time. He felt different after he stopped
eating them. He didn't feel right and a lot of his bones and joints hurt a lot of the
time after he stopped eating these foods. Although he was feeling different in his
bones and joints, it was best if he laid down to rest his muscles in which he did.
After a week of thinking, he decided that the best option would be to just eat his
old foods again. So he headed back to the kitchen and started eating fish and
cereal once again. After a week of eating his beloved foods once again, he felt so
much better and so did his joints and his bones.
Case #107
Batman’s Favorite Mineral
On a Sunday afternoon, Batman was chasing after the Joker. The two were in the middle of an
intense battle which could potentially alter the fate of Gotham City as we know it. As Batman
turned the corner to catch the Joker he suddenly experienced a terrible migraine. He immediately
stopped to address his problems, but decided to ignore the pain so he wouldn't lose the Joker.
Batman quickly located the Joker and continued to chase him, but was interrupted by a sudden
discomfort in his lower abdomen and had to take cover. While Batman was hiding, he reflected
on his activities earlier in the day. He recalled having drank a lot of water thinking he would
have lots of strength and energy, but was now questioning whether or not this contributed to his
pain. Batman snuck up on the Joker and cornered him but was then bothered by a muscle spasm
in his arm. At that point he knew that whatever was going on was a serious problem. Without
hesitation Batman lunged at the Joker and grabbed hold of his wrist. Batman pummeled the Joker
to the ground, tied up his wrists and called the police to lock him up. As he was calling, he was
bothered by feeling of nausea. After the fight he decided a trip to the hospital was long
overdue. Several tests later, the doctors came to the conclusion he has...
Case #108
Why you should eat mushrooms!
Jeff was a soccer player. He was trying to get onto varsity. He has been
practicing for many months. He has missed many school assignments and he hasn’t
hanged out with his friends in many weeks. His parents and his friends are very
concerned for him. When the day finally came, he did very poorly due to his lack of
greens. Meaning he has not had potatoes, Fish, mushrooms or bananas to keep up his
energy. He has been very sick for days. He can’t stop vomiting and having
diarrhea. His mom thinks he should have bananas or yogurt to stop the pains. He says
he can’t because his body cannot keep the fluids and food in his body. His mom says to
wait until he stops vomiting, to put more fluids in his body so he can be healthy again.
What Vitamin am i?