Introduction to Pathophysiology
Dr. Manzoor Ahmad Mir
Assistant Professor
(Immunopatholgy)
College of Applied Medical Sciences
Majmaah University
Thought for Every One
If you succeed in cheating someone,
Don't think that the person is a fool...
Just realize that the person
Trusted you much more than you deserved!
Don’t be over smart and think that some one may
be more smart than you as he has left the job many
years before which you are trying to learn now.
Bone
Teeth
Abdominal
Kidney
Liver
Brain
„House of Medicine“
Neurology
Gynekology and Obtetrics
Surgery
Internal medicine
Ceiling plate
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY
Pathology
Pharmacology
walls
Microbiology
PHYSIOLOGY
Base plate
Anat
Biol
Histol
Bioch
Foundations
Chem
Biophys
What the pathophysiology is
• Pathophysiologia, ae, f.
gr. pathos = disease, pain, suffering
Pathophysiology Involves the study of function
that results from disease processes.
Physiology
Life
Pathophysiology
Logic
Healthy
Study
Diseased
Pathophysiology - definitions
 Pathophysiology is a biomedical science on the mechanisms
related to development and elimination of pathological
processes and diseases
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Pathophysiology is a biomedical science dealing with functional
changes in diseased organism.
It studies disordered or altered functions - the physiologic
mechanisms altered by disease in the living organism
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In clinical setting, pathologists, histologists and cytotechnologist
study tissues and cells to establish the cause of a disease.
Physicians use that information to form a treatment plan.
• Why pathophysiology is important
for medical students and physicians
1. It helps them to find answers to important questions related to
disease processes:
a) What is the cause/causes of the disease, and why
the disease is developing
b) What are the mechanisms responsible for
disease onset, progression, and recovery
c) What are the mechanisms responsible for development of
symptoms and signs of disease
2. If doctors are able to understand the causes and mechanisms of
the disease, then they are able to find the way how to influence them
rationally
Introduction to Pathophysiology
– Sickness
 The physical and/or mental state of being “unwell”
 Can be due to emotions, background, inheritance
self image, presence or absence of psychiatric
problems, etc.
– Health
 Well being state indicating normality of body, mind
and spirit. Origin in health cells in tissues and organs
– Sign
 Observable “objective” or measurable physical
manifestations of disease(s) or disorder(s)

A sign is an indication of some fact or quality; and a medical sign
is an objective indication of some medical fact or quality that is
detected by a physician during a physical examination of a
patient
Introduction to Pathophysiology
– Symptom
“Subjective” evidence of a disease or disorder
 A symptom is a departure from normal function or
feeling which is noticed by a patient, indicating the
presence of disease or abnormality. A symptom is
subjective, observed by the patient, and not measured

– Diagnosis
 Attachment of a specific name to a specific disease or
disorder
 Summation of signs, symptoms, tissue changes,
chemistry, physiology or function changes unique to
that disease or disorder
Introduction to Pathophysiology
– Prognosis
 Making a prediction of the outcome of a
disease or disorder
– Therapy
 Treatment of a disease or disorder
 Several components
–Supportive – lenses
–Restorative – VT
–Physical agents – laser
–Chemical – medications
–Surgical
Introduction to Pathophysiology
– Etiology
 The “cause of” a disease or disorder
– Pathogenesis
 Underlying mechanisms resulting in the
signs and symptoms of the patient

– Morphology
 Gross or microscopic appearance of cells
and tissues
For a disease or disorder to become
manifested clinically, there first must be a
dysfunction of a significant number of cells in
an organ or tissue
Pathophysiology
• ...the physiologic basis of disease
Disease
Any disturbance of structure or function
Etiology
• ...cause of a disease
Incidence
• In what populations does the disease occur?
• What percentage or percentages?
Prognosis
• …the predicted probably outcome of a disease.
Pathogenesis
“sequence of events from the initial stimulus to
the ultimate expression of the disease”
Diagnosis
• ...determination of nature & cause of a disease
• Evaluates:
– History plays a major role in diagnosis
– Signs & symptoms
History includes:
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History of current illness
Past medical history
Family history
Social history
Review of systems
Diagnostic tests & procedures
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Clinical laboratory tests
Tests of electrical activity
Radioisotope studies
Endoscopy
Ultrasound
X-ray
CT Scan
MRI
Cytology/histology
Treatment - Interventions
• Drugs
– Which drugs or groups of drugs?
• What do they do – why are they used?
• Surgery
– Which procedures
• Purpose
• Brief description
• Other treatments
– Example: radiation therapy
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Pathologies
may involve Any level or multiple levels
All disease occurs because of cell injury
Either because of the injury itself or
the repair process that follows
Causes of Cell Injury
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Hypoxia
Direct physical action
Ionizing radiation
Toxic molecular injury
Microbes
Inflammatory & immune reactions
Nutritional imbalances
Genetic defects
Aging
Biologic Aging
• Apoptosis
– Programmed cell death or natural cell death
• Necrosis
– Death caused by disease or induced cell death
• As cells age, functioning decreases
• Genetically, telomeres influence cell aging
Thank you