HBS109 | Human Structure | A Case Study on Cardiovascular Disease

Geoffrey is 50-years-old, works as an office manager and is obese. He spends most of his time in meetings at work and taking clients out for lunch and dinner. He has two school aged children, a new-born baby while his wife who works full time in a high profile position at a law firm. Both Geoff and his wife have very little leisure time and exercise, and they have a poor diet of fast food and quick meals. Geoff visits his GP after an episode of chest pain (angina). He is concerned that he may have suffered a heart attack and complains that he has recently had a few episodes of chest pain and shortness of breath over the past few weeks. After questioning Geoff, the GP establishes that the chest pain is triggered by physical activity or by emotional stress. After a series of tests, it is established that the pain is not due to a heart attack, but due to cardiovascular disease caused by atherosclerosis. In addition, Geoff's fasting blood glucose levels are pre-diabetic. Discuss the pathophysiology and risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis.

 

The main concepts to be reviewed in your assignment are:

 

What is the normal structure and function of these cardiovascular system including the heart, blood vessels and blood pressure? Briefly describe how atherosclerosis affects the cardiovascular system. How could this lead to hypertension and a possible heart attack/stroke?

 

Why does physical activity and emotional stress exacerbate the symptoms?

 

Discuss how cardiovascular disease leads to a shortness of breath?

 

Discuss the endocrine system's role in maintaining blood glucose levels and why overweight and obesity can lead to heart disease and diabetes. 

Introduction

Our body systems work mutually to keep us alive. Each of these particular systems is made up of organs that possess particular functions. The structure of these particular organs and the cells of which they are generated make them suitable for functioning. The vital function of our body systems is to circulate the cells with nutrients and energy, and also extract the waste that is generated. The primary purpose of the paper is to discuss the case study that is based on cardiovascular disease. The focus is on how the cardiovascular system and other body systems regulate our body.

Relevant Body Anatomical and Physiological

Homeostasis plays a vital role in the regular function of the human body. The body systems involved in maintaining the homeostasis mechanism is the similar consistency of the internal environmental changes instead of the external environmental changes. The cardiovascular and the endocrine system helps in keeping the homeostasis.

Cardiovascular systems

Cardiovascular systems continuously supply blood all over the body that transfers nutrients, cells, carbon dioxide, oxygen and hormones to their proper tissue or organ. The cardiovascular system is consist of three essential parts: the veins, the arteries, and the heart. Homeostasis is defined to be the ability of the body to balance and maintain its internal factors, and this is facilitated by the cardiovascular system (Piepol et al., 2016). The homeostasis mechanism is supported by the cardiovascular system via supplying the nutrients, oxygen, and blood to the tissues and organs. The organs of the body depend upon the function of the cardiovascular system. By regulating the body temperature, the cardiovascular system helps the skin in maintaining homeostasis. From the case study, it is noticed that Geoffrey is suffering from a cardiovascular disease that is caused due to atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis includes a narrowing of the blood flow and building of the fat. It can be seen that in the case of Geoffrey atherosclerosis has reduced the flow of blood to an organ that resulted in damage to the organ. It has happened in a blood vessel that supplies blood to the heart. Thus Geoffrey has suffered from a heart attack (Sabatine et al., 2017). The physical stress related to hypertension on the arterial wall leads to acceleration and aggravation of atherosclerosis. Geoffrey must have acknowledged high blood pressure that caused a heart attack or stroke. This is because the muscles of the heart do not get sufficient blood. It is noticed that Geoffrey is suffering from chest pain and shortness of breath which is due to cardiovascular disease. Geoffrey is also suffering from shortness of breath which due to cardiovascular disease as the plaque buildup stiffens and thickens of the artery wall which could stop the flow of blood through the arteries to the tissues and organs. It can be seen that the cardiovascular disease act as an effector where the effectors are the sweat glands and the blood vessels (Tobaldini et al., 2017).

Endocrine system

The endocrine system in the body is mainly a system of glands that secrete and produce hormones. The body organs are affected by the endocrine system. Hormones are entirely responsible for various factors like the development of other organs and the regulation of the temperature of the moods to metabolism. To maintain the homeostasis the hormones are needed to be regulated, or else the levels would too low or too high (Ettehad et al., 2016). The endocrine system comprises the ductless glands which secrete the hormones inside the blood vessel. Such hormones, in turn, function the feedback loops that maintain the body in equilibrium and keeps the body healthy. Thus, the endocrine system is put into the physiological methods which handle the functions of the body. Hormonal balances and checks in the endocrine system govern the ability of the body in maintaining stable internal situations. The blood glucose level in the body comes under the control of homeostasis, various hormones in the body together work to maintain the glucose level in a tight range (Kuryszko et al., 2016). If this system breaks the glucose in the blood may increase and can lead to diabetes. It can be seen from the case study of Geoffrey that as he is overweight which has resulted in him to suffer from a heart attack as well as diabetes. This is due to high level of blood pressure and cholesterol in the body. It can be seen that the endocrine system acts as a control center which supplies information to the brain and regulates the body temperature.

Nervous system

The nervous system is the primary system to control the homeostasis; it facilitates regulation, response and monitoring of all the body systems (Ludwig et al., 2017). The autonomic nervous systems consist of the parasympathetic and sympathetic both comprise of a homeostatic mechanism of the body. While maintaining the homeostasis, the nervous system responds and detects the body's external and internal environments via sending the quick electrical impulse to the brain via nerves (Brisken, and Ataca, 2015). Nerves transfer the impulses between the body and the central nervous system. The nervous system acts as an effector in maintaining the homeostasis. From the case study it can be seen that the nervous system plays a vital role as it functions all the system of the body, and as Geoffrey is suffering from cardiovascular disease and diabetes, therefore it will be controlled by the nervous system.   

Relevant feedback loops to maintain homeostasis

Negative feedback mechanism

Flowchart: Negative Feedback Mechanism

(Source: Occc.edu. 2018)

All mechanism of homeostatic control refers to the mechanism of the negative feedback loop. Such mechanisms change the variable back to its ideal value. To maintain the homeostasis of the body negative feedback loops is determined. The sensors will notice the high body temperature- the significant nerve cells about the brain and the skin and maintains a regulatory temperature control center in the brain. The control center will supply the information and activate the effectors like the sweat glands which opposes the stimulus by lowering the body temperature (Moroishi et al., 2015). The best example of the mechanism of the negative feedback is the home thermostat. The thermostat consists of a control center and receptor, If the thermostat is set to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, the heat that is the effector is switched on the temperature decreases below 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The heater effectively shuts off after the heater heats the house to maintain the ideal temperature. Another example of the negative feedback mechanism is the case study of Geoffrey which indicates control of the sugar level in the blood. From the case study, it can be seen that when the sugar level rises in the blood, the body receptors feel a sense of change in the body as acknowledged by Geoffrey. Whereas, the control center that is the endocrine system secretes the insulin effectively into the blood that results in decreasing the sugar level in the blood. Such type of change has been noticed by Geoffrey as the sugar level in the blood has reached the homeostasis. Therefore, the pancreas has stopped supplying the insulin (Rahman et al., 2017). The regulation of the body temperature also includes the negative feedback mechanism; it tells that whether the temperature is raised or lowered. Geoffrey acknowledged a fall in the body temperature that could be because of high blood pressure or occurrence of the cardiovascular disease due to atherosclerosis. As Geoffrey and his wife both are working professionals, hence it becomes difficult for them to maintain a proper diet, even they do not get adequate time to do exercise. Geoffrey also deals with various issues related to the office which leads to hypertension that causes high blood pressure. As Geoffrey is suffering from obesity thus, it resulted in diabetes; it is observed that the diabetes is due to the broken feedback mechanism that includes hormone insulin. Hence, it made critical for Geoffrey to bring the high level of blood sugar down to a normal level. Therefore, it has been noticed that insulin lowers the level of glucose in the blood in Geoffrey’s body system (Slominski et al., 2018).

Integration of body systems

Our body systems are connected to each other to function the body organs properly. The endocrine and the cardiovascular systems are related to each other as the endocrine gland affects the blood sugar levels, heart rate, and blood pressure. Glucagon and insulin both the hormones are secreted through pancreas, which decreases and increases the glucose level in the blood (Eltschinger, and Loewith, 2016). This, in turn, helps to function the level of energy during and after rest, eating and exercise. The cardiovascular systems react to various signals of the endocrine system; also there are strong connections between the mechanism of the endocrine and various other signals that puts an impact on the functioning of the cardiovascular system. The cardiovascular system supplies nutrients and oxygen to the body organs also it removes the waste from the endocrine system. While the hormones of the endocrine system affect the blood pressure. The factors that lead to diabetes must be targeted to protect the risk of cardiovascular disease that is affecting the patients (Mika et al., 2015). Although the hormones of the endocrine system supply freely in the cardiovascular system, apart from the receptors which are targeted, the entire systems of the body remain unaffected. The endocrine system if formed by the ten types of glands in which the hormones are secreted in the cardiovascular system. The types of glands are hypothalamus, thyroid gland, thymus, testes, pituitary gland, pineal gland, ovaries, pancreas, parathyroid gland and adrenal glands (Chen et al., 2015).

The receptors of the organ cells quickly identify and grabs the hormones that are created to function their systems, avoiding all the others. Some hormones that are not linked to the receptors are stored in the blood vessels. It is estimated that the endocrine system produces more than 50 multiple hormones. Diseases of the endocrine system that consist of hormone hypo function and hyper function have different impacts on the cardiovascular system (Kotas, and Medzhitov, 2015). Functioning of the normal endocrine system is necessary for the functioning of the cardiovascular health. The number of cardiovascular changes can be seen if the functioning of the endocrine is not done properly. If the normal endocrine system is restored, then it leads to an adverse change in the cardiovascular system (Forsyth, 2017). Therefore, from the case study of Geoffrey, it is observed that the change in the body system is due to the interconnection of the cardiovascular system with the endocrine system. Geoffrey is suffering from heart disease as well as diabetes which occurred due to high blood pressure and obesity. This shows the integration of both the system to maintain homeostasis. It can be seen that the nervous system functions rapidly as compared to the cardiovascular and endocrine system. Therefore, the cardiovascular system is connected with the endocrine and the nervous system.

Conclusion

The above paper discusses the case study that is based on cardiovascular disease. Different body systems work together to function the organs of the body to maintain the body temperature. It is observed that as the blood pressure increases it results in the heart attack or stroke, also the patient feels chest pain and shortness of breath. This factor occurs due to cardiovascular disease that is caused by atherosclerosis because of which the patient feels chest pain and hypertension. Thus, the effect of atherosclerosis in the cardiovascular system is discussed which results in hypertension and risk of heart attack. Due to lack of diet, consumption of fast food and not doing the exercises on a regular basis could damage the body systems. It is also observed from the case study that the person suffers from the high level of sugar in the blood which could result in diabetes. It is mentioned that diabetes occurs due to obesity or an increase of sugar level in the blood. The role of the endocrine gland in maintaining the glucose level is the primary objective of the paper. Therefore, it is recommended that a person should maintain its blood pressure and sugar level in the blood to stay fit.

References

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