Vital Signs By H. Lee Kagan Summary
Biology 511 Article Summary
Vital Signs By H. Lee Kagan
Vital Signs by an internist H. Lee Kagan is an account of a healthy-looking woman without warning (no crying, no clutching of chest), suddenly collapsed onto the floor during check in at a clinic. A doctor acts swiftly to diagnose the potential fatal conditions the patient might be experiencing. First, the doctor checked the three most important things: airway, breathing, and circulation and concluded that the patient has no cardiac or respiratory problems. In no more than a minute, the patient recovered rapidly after an abrupt loss of consciousness. This leads to the doctor’s tentative conclusion that the patient had experienced an episode of syncope (commonly known as faint). Through talking to the patient, we learned that she has no history of heart problems or palpitations prior to her fainting. She felt slightly unwell after snacked on some raw sweet peppers that had been left untouched for days. The doctor could not find a …show more content…
blood pressure using stethoscope and confirmed that there was no audible pressure which means that there are not enough blood flowing to her brain. Her systolic pressure was 70 but after improving circulation to her brain by letting her lie down, the pressure reached 80. Normal systolic pressure is 120 and below 90 is considered to be very low. This indicates that the patient is experiencing a life-threatening situation in which the circulation is inadequate to deliver oxygen to the tissues and multiple organs could shut down without immediately calling 911.
From patient’s tingling lips and dangerous low blood pressure, the doctor suggests that the she was in anaphylactic shock, a severe allergic reaction intervened by the body’s immune system; the reaction may be mild (over hours) or rapid progress to respiratory or cardiovascular collapse and death.
The allergic triggers are usually food especially nuts, shellfish, and also peppers, medications, or insect stings. The symptoms typically involve the skin (hives, flushing, itching) and may also include the respiratory failure) and the cardiovascular system (low blood pressure and shock). Before the paramedics arrived, the doctor injected a does of epinephrine (adrenaline) into the patient’s thing muscle, started an IV to help restore the volume of liquid circulating through her arteries, and placed tubing under her nose to maximize the amount of oxygen delivered to the tissues through blood. The patient’s blood pressure raised up to 90 and within two hours, her blood pressure was
normal.
Nearly all cases of syncope are caused by an interruption of blood flow to the brain. There are many factors that can cause syncope: Vasovagal faint accounts for 50% of the cases of syncope (often occurs in susceptible people at the sight of blood or when they experiencing some upsetting or threatening event), cardiac rhythm disorders account for 10% of all faints, another 10% is orthostatic hypotension (when rise to quickly), and in nearly 2% the cause of syncope remains undiagnosed.
Vital Signs By H. Lee Kagan
Vital Signs by an internist H. Lee Kagan is an account of a healthy-looking woman without warning (no crying, no clutching of chest), suddenly collapsed onto the floor during check in at a clinic. A doctor acts swiftly to diagnose the potential fatal conditions the patient might be experiencing. First, the doctor checked the three most important things: airway, breathing, and circulation and concluded that the patient has no cardiac or respiratory problems. In no more than a minute, the patient recovered rapidly after an abrupt loss of consciousness. This leads to the doctor’s tentative conclusion that the patient had experienced an episode of syncope (commonly known as faint). Through talking to the patient, we learned that she has no history of heart problems or palpitations prior to her fainting. She felt slightly unwell after snacked on some raw sweet peppers that had been left untouched for days. The doctor could not find a …show more content…
blood pressure using stethoscope and confirmed that there was no audible pressure which means that there are not enough blood flowing to her brain. Her systolic pressure was 70 but after improving circulation to her brain by letting her lie down, the pressure reached 80. Normal systolic pressure is 120 and below 90 is considered to be very low. This indicates that the patient is experiencing a life-threatening situation in which the circulation is inadequate to deliver oxygen to the tissues and multiple organs could shut down without immediately calling 911.
From patient’s tingling lips and dangerous low blood pressure, the doctor suggests that the she was in anaphylactic shock, a severe allergic reaction intervened by the body’s immune system; the reaction may be mild (over hours) or rapid progress to respiratory or cardiovascular collapse and death.
The allergic triggers are usually food especially nuts, shellfish, and also peppers, medications, or insect stings. The symptoms typically involve the skin (hives, flushing, itching) and may also include the respiratory failure) and the cardiovascular system (low blood pressure and shock). Before the paramedics arrived, the doctor injected a does of epinephrine (adrenaline) into the patient’s thing muscle, started an IV to help restore the volume of liquid circulating through her arteries, and placed tubing under her nose to maximize the amount of oxygen delivered to the tissues through blood. The patient’s blood pressure raised up to 90 and within two hours, her blood pressure was
normal.
Nearly all cases of syncope are caused by an interruption of blood flow to the brain. There are many factors that can cause syncope: Vasovagal faint accounts for 50% of the cases of syncope (often occurs in susceptible people at the sight of blood or when they experiencing some upsetting or threatening event), cardiac rhythm disorders account for 10% of all faints, another 10% is orthostatic hypotension (when rise to quickly), and in nearly 2% the cause of syncope remains undiagnosed.