Caris Story aP 2 - 987 Words

Cari’s Story Unit 5 Case Study One Aamp;P 2 07/24/13 Dr. Brown Cari’s Story Question A: How could an infection in Cari’s nasal passages and pharynx spread into her sinuses? The infection will spread into her sinuses because the pharynx, sinuses, larynx, and trachea are all connected and the infection is prone to spread to the surrounding areas if not treated in a timely manner. Question B: What is the cough reflex? Describe the process that Cari’s respiratory system is using to clear her lungs by coughing. The cough reflex is a long and deep inhalation followed by the closing of the glottis, this causes a strong exhalation that pushes the glottis open and sends air through the respiratory passages. Stimulus for the reflex†¦show more content†¦Because the PCO2 levels are too high the body is not getting the adequate amount of oxygen. This means the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin is not working properly do to the excessive amounts carbon dioxide causing respiratory acidosis. Question K: How would you have expected Cari’s deceased Pco2 and alkaline blood pH to have affected her breathing? The decrease in her PCO2 and pH will cause her central nervous system to slow down causing her breathing to slow down to try to give her body more carbon dioxide to level out the amount of oxygen/carbon dioxide ratio. Question L: How would administration of oxygen enhance Cari’s central drive to breathe? Giving Cari proper steady flow oxygen will keep her body from working hard to get the amount of oxygen it needs. This will soon help level her out to get the proper oxygen/carbon dioxide ratio. Question M: Which anatomical structures in Cari’s respiratory system were initially involved? The initial structures that were involved were the nasal passage, sinuses, throat, and pharynx. Question N: Why was Cari plagued with chronic smoker’s cough? Because Cari is a smoker this has caused the cilia in her respiratory passages to become paralyzed and secrete excess amounts of mucus that need to be expelled, leading to the smoker’s cough. Question O: Which damaging effects of tobacco smoke led to Cari’s impaired respiratory defense mechanisms? Alveolar