Thea De Guzman
M. Schultz
Anatomy & Physiology
12 December 2012
Part III—Your Explanation of Sam’s Condition
1. The type of disease that Sam is suffering from is Cystic Fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis begins
after the first month of life; the basic sign of Cystic Fibrosis is the taste of salt in the skin.
Sweat Chlorine test are only given to patients who have signs for Cystic Fibrosis. Also,
Sam had sputum which is thick mucus in the air ways of the respiratory tracts. This
mucus causes hyperinflation and bronchial walls thickening which was shown in Sam’s
Chest x-ray result, therefore, Sam has Cystic Fibrosis (Mayo).
2. Cystic fibrosis mostly affect single layer epithelial tissues such simple squamous, simple
columnar, and pseudostratified columnar. These epithelial tissues are mostly found in the
lungs where the mucus is secreted by the goblet cells. Also, another type of tissue is
connective tissues such as blood because blood is affected when mucus builds up in the
lungs which cause a decrease of oxygen in the blood. As for the organs, Cystic fibrosis
affects the exocrine glands which are the reproductive organs such as the anal causing the
greasy bowels and blocking of sperm due to the mucus build up, respiratory organs such
as the lungs, bronchioles, and the digestive system that consist the pancreas and the small
intestine, and liver. For the respiratory organs, mucus becomes thick due to the lack of
chlorine ion channel which causes the water to stay in the cell. Therefore, mucus clogs up
in the lungs causes the coughing, lack of oxygen and wheezing. As for digestive system,
the mucus also builds up in the tubes for the digest enzymes for the food to break down in
the pancreas. Since food cannot be broken down properly, the body doesn’t get enough
nutrients that it needs. The secretion and waste begins to build up in the liver and
intestines which causes the dysfunction. In the liver, thick secretions can build up in
ducts, causing it to not work properly (Mayo).
3. Cystic Fibrosis basically affects the exocrine glands of the respiratory, digestive, and
reproductive system. Sam’s epithelial cells in respiratory and digestive tracts are affected
due to the disease. Due to Cystic Fibrosis, mucus is the most basic substance that affects
both digestive and respiratory system. The tube of Sam’s lungs and air ways and the
simple squamous epithelial are blocked with mucus which caused wheezing, coughing,
and runny nose. These are the reasons to why Sam has an abnormal respiration rate. As
for the digest system, the mucus also blocks tubes which results to the lack of digestive
enzymes that the intestines need to absorb nutrients from the food. The blockage of tubes
of digestive enzymes explains to why Sam has greasy stools, underweight, and has
unusual growth. Goblet cells play in this disease because goblet cells are known for
mucus secretion. Cystic Fibrosis secrets mucus to every exocrine gland. Mucus causes
the dysfunctional organs in the exocrine glands. For example, mucus in tubules of lungs
causes coughing, wheezing, and runny nose. Mucus also covers the tubules for the
digestive enzymes from the pancreas to the small intestines which cause less absorption
of nutrients. As for the respiration tract, goblet cells secrete mucus onto the epithelial
surfaces of the air way. Reproductive system is also affected because of the mucus that
blocks sperm in the tubules of vas deferens (Organs).
4. Sputum is mucus found the air ways of lungs. Sputum occurs because of the epithelial
surface in the air ways of the respiratory tracts secretes mucus. These thick mucus are
then not removed by cilia which will result to a built up. Mucus content is basically water,
trapped bacteria, and trapped chloride ions because a person with cystic fibrosis has an
abnormal chloride channels. Since they do not function, chloride ions build up in cells
which cause mucus (Colorado).
5. A. The surface area and/or the diffusion distance of gas exchange in Sam’s lungs may be
inflamed, scarred, and smaller because the tissues are harmed and air ways are trapped by
the mucus. It causes difficulty in breathing due to the lack of air that the body takes in.
B. The presence of sputum relate to Sam’s pulmonary function test because the more
sputum Sam has in the air sacs of lungs, the more the pulmonary function test will
demonstrate a decrease in expiratory volume and capacity. The sputum is blocking the air
sacs of the lungs, therefore, less surface area for oxygen to the lungs.
C. The test correlate with Sam’s chest x-ray results because respiratory system is involve
with bronchial tubes and hyperinflation is due to the bacteria that is kept in the mucus.
Pulmonary function test will show the surface are of oxygen that can pass through the
respiratory tract, therefore, bronchial tubes correlates with the test (About).
6. The Cystic fibrosis affects the function of the pulmonary system. It is due to a defect of
CFTR protein which is a protein that controls how chlorine ions go in to and out of the
cells. They are important to making the mucus watery instead of the thick because this
protein causes water exits out of the cell. The respiratory system is composed of
bronchial tubes that lead to air sacs and within the air sacs are epithelial cells that secrete
the mucus. Since CFTR protein have a defect, it causes the mucus to thicken because
water does not leave the cell which clogs the air ways. As the body tries to resolve the
infection, white blood cells are sent by the immune system to fight the bacteria that the
mucus is now accumulating. However, as the white blood cells die, the following waste
are now added to the mucus which results to the inflammation and a thicker infection
(Cystic). *Diagram on a separate sheet of paper
7. Sweat chloride test is used to test for Cystic Fibrosis because it analyzes the amount of
chloride that is accumulating in the cells. This is due to the defect when transporting the
sodium and chloride between cells which causes it to secrete to the skin causing the salty
sweat. The pediatrician should order a nasal potential difference measurement because
that is how it can measure the transport of sodium and chloride.
8. Mucus-thinners such as Pulmozyme or Bronchodilators such as Albuterol, proventil, and
Ventolin can be prescribed to Sam because it will loosen the mucus which can help with
the air way of the lungs, digestive enzymes to absorb nutrients, and normal bowels
through the reproductive system. The second treatment would be antibiotics such as
TOBI (Tobramcyin) to prevent the infections due to the bacteria that is accumulating in
the mucus (Cystic).
Works Cited
(About) About. Saunders, 14 Oct. 2003. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
<http://adam.about.net/encyclopedia/Pulmonary-function-tests.htm?once=true&>.
(Cystic) About Cystic Fibrosis. CancerCenter, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.aboutcysticfibrosis.com/cystic-fibrosis-lungs.htm>.
(Colorado) Colorado Education. Hughes Undergraduate Biological Science Education Initiative,
n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. <http://www.colorado.edu/Outreach/BSI/pdfs/osmosis.pdf>.
(Mayo) Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation, 10 Aug. 2012. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cystic-fibrosis/DS00287/DSECTION=symptoms>.
(Organ) Organ-specific effects of cystic fibrosis. New York, 1995. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
<http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~wine/organs.html>.