Mineral Case Study
Period 8-9
Case #1
A split second
Cassandra was a junior in highschool and was an athlete
participating in various sports such as volleyball, track and basketball.
She would always eat healthy consuming lots of amounts of
vegetables such as green beans, romaine lettuce, and fruits and an
acceptable amount of protein. But one day, during basketball
practice, she tore her ACL. Her injury resulted her to quit basketball,
wear crutches for 6 months and stay home. Despite of her injury,
Cassandra’s eating habits also started to change. She would eat
more junk food and eat less fruits and vegetables . She would then
complain about being tired and have panic attacks as well as an a
anxiety. A visit to the doctor’s office, also revealed she had abnormal
cholesterol metabolism. Cassandra being concerned about her well
being didn’t exactly know what was happening and what should she
do.
Case #2
Mike’s Migraines
Mike was a straight A student who usually performed excellently on his exams.
He had an upcoming test in one of his classes. He spent the next couple of days trying
to prepare for the exam, but had difficulty focusing because he was experiencing
headaches, and eventually migraines. As the exam day neared, the student skipped
dinner for the next couple of days, in an effort to save time and retain as much
information as possible. He skipped out on his vegetables and instead ate snacks as he
continued to study. Even though he took some Advil to relieve his headaches, he only
noticed them getting worse as he got closer to the test day. Two days before the test, he
started feeling his throat itched and it was only a couple of hours until he started
developing a sore throat, leaving him unable to concentrate on his studying. He
shrugged it off and hoped that his sore throat would clear up in time for the test. His sore
throat also caused him to skip out on his dinner meal. One day before the test, he came
down with a bad fever. To his surprise, his sore throat actually worsened and he was not
able to finish studying in time for the test. He wanted to stay home because he felt very
ill, but knew that he could not miss this important exam. On the morning of the exam, he
woke up and noticed that not only was his fever really bad, but his skin was also really
itchy. He did not feel prepared for the exam, but decided that staying home from school
would not be an option. As a result, he went to school and took the test anyways. When
he got back his score, he was not very happy. His score was below average and he was
disappointed because he’s never performed this poorly before on an exam. He
wondered what had caused him to get this sick right before the test and perform so
poorly as a result.
Case #3
Mike Lost his Ike
Mike is a man in his late 50s whose diet consists of mainly processed and refined
foods because they are cheaper and money is tight for him at the time. He has also
recently been eating a high intake of sulfur. For the last couple of weeks he has had a
hard time driving in the dark, he complains he can’t quite make out all the objects and
roads at night. Recently he has also had frequent headaches and at random times his heart
rate starts to speed up even if he isn’t doing any physical activities. To top it all of, him
and his wife have been disappointed with the lack of activity in the bedroom and he is
beginning to get really concerned. Mike just can’t understand what is going on with his
body. He exercises and eats right...well at least that’s what he thinks.
Case #4
Mr.Kessel is praised for being a beast at the annual obstacle races he enters and has
always come in first place because he is the best. He has always lived a healthy
lifestyle especially ever since he became a vegetarian about a year ago. He is
extremely serious about the lifestyle he lives and strives to maintain in first place in
running competitions he enters in. Recently he has begun to prepare himself for his
yearly obstacle race. Ever since he has started to train he has noticed a change in his
sessions. The other day his kids were timing him as he ran around the neighborhood
8 times equaling 2 miles but when he left, by his 5th lap around he struggled to
stand and couldn't see straight so he fell down on the curb and reached for his water
but he felt so dizzy and confused he couldn't even move his hands from his head.
When he got back to the house he told his wife about what had happened and she
suggested he make a protein shake to fuel him up because he may have not have had
enough energy in his body, so he did and felt better after.. The next day he had set
up a meet with his friends to get more training in before the race but completely
blew them off because he said he didn't feel well. Instead he told his wife he wanted
to take a mental health day because he was experiencing some severe headaches
and just wanted to stay in bed. He didn't move once not even to get up and eat
something. His buddies as well as his wife were so shocked because it's not like him
to blow off his friends especially not a training session when the run was less than 2
weeks away. After he rested for a day he felt ready to get back to work and he was
determined to train as much as he could before the race. The next morning his wife
and kids woke him up to breakfast in bed with a bowl a fruit and an omelet. He had
appreciated the meal they had prepared him but he wasn't hungry. Instead of eating
it he hit the shower and went straight to the garage and spent the whole day in there
alone. Just him a lot of water and a whole lot of sweat. His family began to worry
especially his wife so she suggested to him later that night that he not enter in the
race because he wasn't looking so good and was worried something was wrong. He
had noticed the changes too but completely ignored them because nothing was
going to stop him from competing. It was finally the day of the big competition and
although he felt off he was still determined to win. That day he set off and was
already ahead of everyone else so he felt good about his chances and didn't have a
worry in the world. He was so close to the finish line he could almost taste the
victory lying ahead of him until he stopped and barfed all over the sidelines, but he
still kept running he was so close so he kept pushing but then he fell and completely
fainted during a course. Doctors from the tents nearby rushed out to grab him and
took him in to see what had happened to him. He was upset he couldn't finish but
after realizing what had happened to him during the race and over the past 2 weeks
he didn't care anymore. So that day his family and him went straight to the hospital
where he received the medical attention he deserved.
Case #5
Doom’s Day
A married couple named Bob and June have decided that they want to have a
baby. They decided they were gonna start trying on Valentine’s Day since they believe it
would be a sign of good luck. Weeks later her body started to change and she began to
feel weak and nauseous. She thought she might of been pregnant since her sister went
through something similar with morning sickness. She told her husband about it and the
both of them were thrilled. Her husband and her made an appointment to see a doctor to
see if they will have a child. The day of the appointment June was walking out of the
door ecstatic jumping up and down. Shortly after, she started to feel dizzy and passed
out. Her husband picked her up and drove quickly to the hospital. The doctor told her
that she was going to be okay. She told him about how she thought she might’ve been
pregnant. The doctor ran some test on her and told her in a few days he’ll call to let her
the news. June couldn’t wait any longer and was relieved once the doctor had called her.
He had some disappointing news saying she wasn’t pregnant due to infertility. Destroyed
by the thought of not having a baby she wanted to know how she can be able to get
pregnant and asked the doctor what she needed to do to be able to conceive.
Case #6
James is a 17 year old hockey player who wants to bulk up so that he can check other
players and knock them down. To do this James starts a paleo diet. He ate fish, eggs,
meats, poultry, and fruit but refused to eat vegetables; he hated vegetables. So for about
two weeks James kept up with his diet, but he started sweating more during practice and
games. James just thought it was because he was working so hard. Over time he felt
like he was getting thirstier during practice, but again he thought it was because he was
working so hard. Every morning he would feel so tired, even if there wasn’t practice or a
game the day before. Every practice and game he has been drinking water, even though
his coach recommended that he drink more fluids with electrolytes. After a month of
being on this diet he started to notice a loss in appetite and some muscle weakness.
Then right before the state championship game began James threw up during practice
on the ice, and then ran into the bathroom. He came out telling the team doctor that he
had severe diarrhea. His coach took him out of the game and sent him to the local
pediatrician.
Case #7
Josh’s Injury
Josh was a high school students who recently moved to a new town. As he was
getting used to his new life in this new town. Josh was an athlete and loved to play
basketball and football, he even tried out for the school teams. Being the athlete that he
was he made both the basketball and football teams. About a month into football season
he started to complain about his teeth and legs hurting all the time. But he kept playing
football against his doctor’s orders. As the season went on the aching pain he felt in his
legs was only getting worse. When suddenly he was hit with a season ending injury in
when he fractured his shin in the middle of a game. It kept him of his leg for two weeks.
Finally when he was able to come back a few days before the basketball season started he
suffered a similar injury to his other leg. His doctor asked Josh if he had any changes in
his diet before moving towns. Josh told his doctor that he had moved to a high protein
diet from primarily meat and cut out foods like carrots, tomatoes, asparagus, and spinach.
His doctor came to the conclusion of for whatever reason he has become more injury
prone because in the change of his diet. He was deficient in something but he couldn't
figure out what he was missing. What nutrient is Josh deficient in?
Case #8
Caroline Becomes a Vegetarian
Caroline is a 17 year old senior in highschool and plays soccer daily. Caroline
has always been allergic to nuts and seeds. Recently, Caroline became a vegetarian
because of a documentary she watched in school. This switch was easy for Caroline
because she never really liked meat. Caroline did not make the dietary switch to lose
weight because she was always a very active person. Suddenly, Caroline came home
from a soccer game and felt really tired and all she wanted to do was sleep. Caroline
ignored this and assumed her lack of energy was a result of her tough soccer game and
proceeded to continue her vegetarian diet. Caroline kept up with her daily schedule of
going to school and soccer and hanging out with her two best friends Grace and Nicole
on the weekends. After about a month, Caroline went to the hair salon to get her hair
cut. Her hairdresser noticed her hair had thinned and questioned Caroline’s eating
habits. Caroline did not acknowledge this observation and returned home. She kept up
her eating habits and went to school as usual. Caroline even participated in a singing
competition at her school. After a lot of practice and rehearsal she ended up coming in
second place. The day after the competition she woke up with a scratchy throat.
Assuming this was just from the singing she ignored this symptom. Her friend Grace was
also in the competition and felt the same sore throat days before Caroline had. Recently
Caroline is becoming worried and is not sure what is wrong with her.
Case #9
Chris’s Mineral Case study
Chris was was taking a shower when he noticed his left foot was very itchy, he
also noticed there was more and more hair going down the drain. Chris was shocked to
see his own hair going down the drain and started to investigate what was happening. As
he got dressed, still bothered by his itchy and burning foot, he also noticed he had bumps
on his chest. Not thinking much of the bumps he went to go have breakfast, but found he
wasn’t very hungry. Chris thought more and more about what he had found that day. He
started to think about why he wasn’t hungry as he used to be, and thought maybe the
canker sores he had lately made him not want to eat. He then thought how he has been
getting sick more often. As he continued to investigate these issues going on with him,
his final observation was his sleep pattern was off. Confused with all this new
information, he decided to visit the doctors.
Case #10
Annarae is your typical teenage girl. Wakes up, goes to school,
participates in after school clubs and then goes home for homework and rest.
Annarae hasn't been doing anything different lately but has been feeling different.
She recently has found the need to stop at the local coffee store twice, once
before school and again after school, which she never had to do before. She
claims it’s because she’s been feeling more tired lately but also just enjoys the
taste of coffee. Annarae has also been complaining to her dad about joint pain
but when her dad dismisses her she gets extremely angry. Annarae also seems
to get angry when she can’t keep up in gym class against her guy friends like she
used to be able to do. Annarae wants to find out what’s been wrong with her and
needs your help.
Case #11
Bob loves to run. He has learned of new diet runners are deciding to follow. All
his competitors and teammates have chosen to follow the diet and have found great
success with it. He has chosen to exclude all dairy and cream based foods. He claims that
excluding cream based food from his diet won't slow him down and make him faster
which will help with his times for long runs.
After a couple weeks on his new diet he is starting to notice he has muscle cramps
all the time not just while running. His fingers also get very numb and tingly during
school which has started to freak him out. And his mother has also became to worry over
Bob's lack of appetite. He never eats anymore and she is growing more and more
concerned as the days progress. Everybody is worried and want to know what is wrong
with Bob. Can you help Bob find out what's wrong with him?
Case #12
Sarah’s Mineral Deficiency
Sarah has been eating nothing but meat for the last couple of weeks. She
has been very busy with work lately so she barely gets to eat a meal and when
she does it is not always healthy. She frequently heads out to fast food places
and when she does she never buys a healthy meal. Ever since she started eating
this way she has been feeling pretty crappy. She has been having joint pain in
her hands, knees, neck, and lower back. she has been having trouble sleeping,
she claims she sweats a lot, and she has sudden weight loss. She went to the
doctor to see what was causing these symptoms and he said that these
symptoms match with those of osteoporosis and hyperthyroidism. He asked her
what else she was feeling and she said that she has had bad menstrual cramps
and she has been vomiting. He then tells her that he thinks she may have a
mineral deficiency. Which mineral is Sarah deficient in.
Case #13
Jacob who is the king of the corn patch, was eating too much corn and wasn’t
consuming enough of a certain mineral in his diet so he started to notice changes in his
body. He normally is a very energetic and strong man but he started becoming very
tired, and weak and was constantly feeling like he was nauseous. Jacob was not only
the king of corn, he was king of the gym. He was one of the strongest and most known
person at the gym so when he started feeling weaker it was a little strange for him. One
day he went to go for his normal workout and during the workout started feeling very
weak and started getting abdominal cramping that was so unbearable he had to go to
the hospital. Jacob told the doctors about his almost all corn diet and told them about
the changes in his body that he started to notice. After running some tests the doctors
said that he was deficient in a certain mineral and told Jacob if he doesn’t change his all
corn diet he could face some other serious issues with his body.
Case #14
DeSean problem
DeSean has been having a problem for the last couple of months. At start of the school
year he was an avid basketball player and was hopefully making varsity this year as a
sophomore. How ever his overall health has gone downhill. He has packed on 25
pounds in 3 months and hasn’t been as motivated for his school work and his sports.
Since he spent the whole summer working hard ,his friends are worried that the team is
not as competitive without him. He has also complained about a thyroid
soreness. DeSean has also notices breakouts with blackheads and a lot of pimples.
With all these issues DeSean has had a lot of struggles in the last couple of weeks with
tryouts coming up. He is following a diet which limits his sodium use which he thinks has
had a positive effect on him. With basketball coming up what do you think DeSeans
deficient in?
Case #15
John’s Mineral Deficiency
At the beginning of September, John was preparing for the start of the football
season. It was his senior season and he was hoping to have a phenomenal year so he
would be able to get the opportunity to play in college. John has been training all
summer, attempting to perfect his game. At the start of the season, John started to
become sick. Nothing major, but a cold that would disappear and reappear very often.
Along with being sick, John noticed he was losing a lot of weight. He was becoming
fatigued and didn’t have the explosive energy that he usually has. John went to talk to
the athletic trainer about his problems, but the trainer just said the fatigue can be from
the sickness, the sickness can be from the colder weather, and the loss of weight can be
from the constant running. Eventually week’s into the season, John started to feel
muscle soreness and joint pain. This was affecting his game and he wasn’t performing at
the level that he usually performs at. John decided to go to the doctors, so he can find
out what is wrong with him. John explained all of the symptoms to the doctor, and the
doctor told him it is a mineral deficiency. As the doctor, can you find out what mineral
deficiency John is suffering from?
Case #16
Lisa has been playing hockey since she was just five years old. She was always one of
the most driven and hard working players on the team and easily the fastest. Even as a
young girl she was never afraid of the physicality of the sport. If anything that is what
made it all the more fun. She even made her bio on Instagram, ‘Sometimes I feel like all
I do is eat, sleep, and play hockey.’
Then, all of the sudden, she started going downhill her sophomore year of
highschool. The girl that used to have her head in the game 110% of the time was now
getting distracted in the middle of drills by a strange feeling in her chest. She claims, “it
almost feels like my heart is skipping a beat!” Lisa used to be the only player who
actually got excited when she heard the coach yell ‘goal line’ because she could do a
suicide in just forty seconds! However, lately she has been caught straggling behind
everyone, coming in dead last. Most times lately she just glides to back to the goal line
crouched over and gripping her stomach as if she has horrible cramps.
Not only has her performance changed on the ice but off the ice, as well.
Everyday before school and practices she tells her mom that she is too nervous to go
and that she has randomly been getting very upset about things that have never
bothered her before. This really concerned her mother but she thought maybe it would
pass. Then Lisa started coming in to her parents room in the middle of the night claiming
that she can’t sleep. This is where her mother drew the line. She is now desperately
trying to figure out what is wrong with her daughter and is willing to take any advice.
Case #17
The Dream Girls Nightmare
Fantasy, a senior at Paradise Public High School seemed almost perfect. She
was incredibly smart, talented and beautiful. Fantasy managed to get straight A’s in all
her classes, win every school talent show with her amazing dancing and impress every
guy with her long, black tresses and beautifully bronzed skin. Everyone in her senior
class thought of her as the ideal student, but over the course of the second semester,
her friends and classmates noticed changes in her.
While walking down the hall to get to her next class, Fantasy overheard Jesse, a
boy that crushed on her, whispering to one of his friends “Is it just me or does Fantasy
look different? She looks sick, her skin looks so pale and her hair looks so thin.”
Embarrassed, Fantasy made a point to deep condition her hair and apply self tanner
before she went back to school the following morning. The next day, Fantasy’s friend
Amber flaunted the fresh manicure she got for the talent show that night, and went on to
grab Fantasy’s hand to see what she was working with, noticing that her nails were
uneven and brittle. Amber shouted “Wow, let’s do your nails this weekend, they look like
clear pieces of paper!” Although Fantasy felt ridiculed once again, she didn’t let the
comment get to her because she had more important things to worry about. Tonight her
school was hosting another talent show, and Fantasy was determined to win again. She
allotted the whole afternoon to practicing her choreography, but after a few minutes she
said to her mother “I already feel like my muscles are giving out on me! My head is
pounding and I am too tired to go on, I need to save my energy for the show.”
Come showtime, Fantasy was nervous to go on stage. She feared for the first
time losing her winning streak. As she approached the stage and saw her friends
cheering in the audience, Fantasy felt a bit more confident. She proceeded to leap and
jump to the melodic notes as the slow song played in the background and the crowd
loved it. Everything was going well and then she blacked-- Fantasy woke up to Amber,
Jesse, her mom and another person surrounding her on stage. The unknown woman
turned out to be a doctor sitting in the audience. She explained that Fantasy fainted for a
short period of time, and the cause was seemingly chronic fatigue. Fantasy believed the
woman because she still felt dazed. At this point Fantasy knew something was wrong.