A 52-year old man with no history of smoking was diagnosed with primary lung cancer. He worked in the human resources section of his local health department. His sister died 7 years previously from breast cancer. The patient\’s wife had a history of smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day for 20 years. How could this patient have contracted lung cancer without being a smoker? Explain your answer.

#2 A 56 year old man who has had nausea, vomiting, and vague pain in his abdomen develops severe jaundice. He has smoked two packs of cigarettes per day for the past 20 years. His father had diabetes mellitus. According to this scenario, which organ would be most likely linked to these symptoms? Explain your answer. If the patient was diagnosed with cancer, what would be the prognosis? Explain.

#3
A 35-year-old man who was born with one kidney was brought to the emergency department after a severe car accident. He was diagnosed with hypovolemic shock. A person must have at least one functioning kidney to survive. Why do you believe a person cannot live without a kidney?

Extra Credit Discussion Boards

 Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course

Instructor’s Name

Date

Extra Credit Discussion Boards

Scenario One

The first scenario presents a 52-year-old man diagnosed with primary lung cancer who has no history of smoking. His wife smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day for 20 years. Since the patient might have contracted lung cancer due to passive cigarette smoke. Since the patient’s wife was a serious cigarette smoker, he was a passive smoker and hence greater risk of contracting lung cancer. When friends and families smoke and the individual inhales the secondhand smoke, the individual becomes a passive smoker.

According to 1, people who inhale secondhand smoke often develop the same illnesses, including lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, passive smoking exposes individuals to similar carcinogens as active smoking, which is a leading cause of lung cancer. 1 reiterate that passive smoking is regarded as an important cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. The association between passive smoking and lung cancer exists because toxic substances and carcinogens often remain present inside steam smoke and exhaled mainstream smoke. 1 in their study found out that about one-fifth of total lung cancer cases are attributed to passive smoking. The researchers stated that the rate of lung cancer associated with passive smoking (16%) is almost similar to that of the United Kingdome (14-15%).  They also discovered that lung cancer due to passive smoking is more prevalent at home than in workplaces. Based on the discussion above, the literature suggests that passive smokers are more at risk of lung cancer than unexposed individuals. Therefore, the patient might have developed cancer due to passive smoking.

Scenario Two            

The second scenario is about a 56-year-old man who has had nausea, vomiting, vague pain in his abdomen, and severe jaundice. The patient has smoked two packs of cigarettes daily for the past 20 years.  Based on the patients smoking history, he is likely to develop lung problems due to excessive smoking of cigarettes. According to 2, smoking can cause damage to airways and the small air sacs (alveoli) found in the lungs. Some of the lung diseases caused by cigarette smoking include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. Therefore, the lung would be the most at-risk organ, although other organs are also at risk.

Lung cancer is a major risk to individuals smoking cigarettes. Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer according to 1. Therefore, there is a possibility that the patient could be suffering from cancer. If the patient had lung cancer, the prognosis will be based on several factors such as the stage of cancer, the patient’s lifestyle henceforth, and adherence to medications. The patient since the patient has been a heavy smoker, he might not survive for long if his lung has major damage. Also, he might record a poor disease prognosis if he does not stop smoking. Cigarette smoking may exacerbate the cancer symptoms and may even lead to earlier than expected death of the patient. The patient has not lost much (5%) of his body weight, hence, might have a favorable prognosis. Proper patient education is recommended to help the patient improve his health and achieve a favorable prognosis.

Scenario Three

The third case study is about a 35-year-old male who was born with one kidney. The patient was brought to the emergency department following a severe car accident. The patient has one kidney, if that kidney is damaged, he will not live without a functioning kidney. Kidneys are important body organs. They are two bean-shaped organs located just below the rib cage. Kidneys filter the blood to remove waste and extra fluid in the form of urine. The kidney also removes acid produced by the cells from the body. It helps in maintaining the appropriate balance of water, minerals, and salts in the blood. Each of the kidneys is made of millions of nephrons, which are filtering units.

People who were born with kidneys may lack them as a result of kidney failure. The symptoms of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are exactly what would happen when one does not have a kidney. The ESRD symptoms are a clear indication that a person cannot survive without kidneys. For those without kidneys or with complete kidney failure, the body gets filled with waste products and extra water, a condition called uremia. When this condition sets in, toxins such as urea and creatinine build up in the bloodstream. Lack of functioning kidneys leads to fatigue, chest pains. Muscle weakness, and death. Therefore, in any case, the patient lost the only kidney he had, he is at risk of uremia, which will eventually result in death. The patient might be helped through a kidney transplant to restore the normal functioning and homeostasis of the patient’s body.  Kidney transplant has been successful in preventing death among patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

References

CDC. (2021). What Are the Risk Factors for Lung Cancer? https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/lung/basic_info/risk_factors.htm#:~:text=Cigarette%20smoking%20is%20the%20number,of%20more%20than%207%2C000%20chemicals

Du, Y., Cui, X., Sidorenkov, G., Groen, H. J., Vliegenthart, R., Heuvelmans, M. A., … & de Bock, G. H. (2020). Lung cancer occurrence attributable to passive smoking among never smokers in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Translational lung cancer research, 9(2), 204. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7225146/

Himmelfarb, J., & Ikizler, T. A. (2019). Chronic kidney disease, dialysis, and transplantation: Companion to Brenner & Rector’s the kidney. Elsevier.