Choose any of the questions below you wish to answer and/or discuss. Indicate your choice in the title, please.

1. The human body is organized from very simple levels to more complex levels. With this in mind, describe why a disease at the chemical level can have an effect on organ system function.

2. Defects in mitochondria can lead to disorders that affect the eye and skeletal muscle. Why?

3. Where would a cancer more likely start: In the shoulder (deltoid) muscle or in the skin over the same area? Explain your answer.

4. Concerned about cholesterol, a friend wants to eliminate all dietary fats. On the basis of what you have learned this week, what would be your advice? Explain.

WEEK 1 REFLECTIONS

Contains unread posts

Indicate your choice in the Title of your response.

I am looking for personal interpretation of concepts discussed this week, not simply a description of what happened or a re-statement of definitions. This is to be Reflective Writing. It needs to be an accurate representation of your own understanding.

a. Makes sense

Discuss one thing related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions that makes sense to you. Use enough detail to convince me that you understand.

b. Doesn’t make sense

Discuss one thing related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions that does not make sense to you. Discuss which aspects of the concept confuse you.

c. My Life

Discuss how a concept related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions relates to an experience from your own life.

d. Change in Thinking

Discuss how a concept you now understand related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions is different from what you had previously thought.

e. Resource

Identify a concept that you felt need to understand better. Identify a resource that accomplished the goal of deepening your understanding of the concept in question by doing the following. Describe your personal understanding of the concept prior to finding and using the resource and then afterwards. Report on how the resource accomplished the goal of explaining the concept in question.

DISEASE IN THE SPOTLIGHT WEEK 2

Select a disease that affects one of the organ systems studied this week. Put the name of the disease in the subject line of your post. When choosing a disease, make sure that your selection is unique. Repetitive posts will earn minimal, if any credit. You can always comment on classmates’ post providing additional, in depth insight to fulfill weekly participation requirements.

In your post address following:

1. Name(s) of the disease and the system that is primarily affected by the chosen disease.

2. What category does the chosen disease belong to? (See Module 1)

3. Classify the disease based on its intensity and duration. (acute, chronic, latent).

4. Identify the homeostatic mechanism that has failed.

5. Select two signs (remember that sign is an objective characteristic of the disease) and describe what causes the presence of the selected signs.

6. Select two symptoms (symptom is the patient’s subjective perception of a change in normal body function) and describe what causes the presence of the selected symptoms.

7. What diagnostic tool (choose at least one) would help you in diagnosing this disease and how?

WEEK 2 CONCEPTS

Choose any of the questions below you wish to answer and/or discuss. Indicate your choice in the title, please.

1. Charlie is badly burned in a fireworks accident. When he reaches the emergency room, the exmining physician determines the severity of the incident as a third-degree burn. What will be the course of treatment and why?

2. Nancy wanted a flatter abdomen, so she went on a diet and lost ten pounds. Two years later, Nancy regained the ten pounds and her abdomen looks the way it did before she lost the weight. Explain why the extra weight seeingly “returned” to her abdomen.

3. Why is biopsy so important in diagnosis cancer? Give an example of a cancer and a tissue it has orginated from.

4. One of a side affects of chemotherapy is the loss of hair. Why?

5. How does aging alter the integumentary system. How do these changes affect the physical condition of elderly people?

WEEK 2 REFLECTIONS

Indicate your choice in the Title of your response.

I am looking for personal interpretation of concepts discussed this week, not simply a description of what happened or a re-statement of definitions. This is to be Reflective Writing. It needs to be an accurate representation of your own understanding.

a. Makes sense

Discuss one thing related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions that makes sense to you. Use enough detail to convince me that you understand.

b. Doesn’t make sense

Discuss one thing related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions that does not make sense to you. Discuss which aspects of the concept confuse you.

c. My Life

Discuss how a concept related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions relates to an experience from your own life.

d. Change in Thinking

Discuss how a concept you now understand related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions is different from what you had previously thought.

e. Resource

Identify a concept that you felt need to understand better. Identify a resource that accomplished the goal of deepening your understanding of the concept in question by doing the following. Describe your personal understanding of the concept prior to finding and using the resource and then afterwards. Report on how the resource accomplished the goal of explaining the concept in question.

DISEASE IN THE SPOTLIGHT WEEK 3

Select a disease that affects one of the organ systems studied this week. Put the name of the disease in the subject line of your post. When choosing a disease, make sure that your selection is unique. Repetitive posts will earn minimal, if any credit. You can always comment on classmates’ post providing additional, in depth insight to fulfill weekly participation requirements.

In your post address following:

1. Name(s) of the disease and the system that is primarily affected by the chosen disease.

2. What category does the chosen disease belong to? (See Module 1)

3. Classify the disease based on its intensity and duration. (acute, chronic, latent).

4. Identify the homeostatic mechanism that has failed.

5. Select two signs (remember that sign is an objective characteristic of the disease) and describe what causes the presence of the selected signs.

6. Select two symptoms (symptom is the patient’s subjective perception of a change in normal body function) and describe what causes the presence of the selected symptoms.

7. What diagnostic tool (choose at least one) would help you in diagnosing this disease and how?

WEEK 3 CONCEPTS

Choose any of the questions below you wish to answer and/or discuss. Indicate your choice in the title, please.

1. A police officer has just stopped Bill on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Bill is first asked to walk the yellow line on the road and then asked to place the tip of his index finger on the tip of his nose. How would these activities indicate Bill’s level of sobriety? What parts of the brain is being tested by these activities?

2. Julie is a mountain climbing witha group of friends when she slips, falls, and bumps the left side of her head on a rock. She gets up slowly, and is dazed but otherwise appears unhurt. She feels able to proceed, and the climb continues. An hour later, Julie gets a severe headache and experiences a ringing in her ears. She starts having trouble speaking, and soon loses consciousness. Before medical personnel can reach the scene, Julie dies. What was the likely causeof death?

3. Name several types of pain-relieving drugs. Describe methods for relieveing pain that do not involve drugs.

4. Russell wants to make the basketball team at his high school.he realizes that a few more inches in height would probably increase his chances. He asks his family physician for a prescription of growth hormone. Physician says that the growth hormone won’t help him grow taller. Why?

WEEK 3 REFLECTIONS

Indicate your choice in the Title of your response.

I am looking for personal interpretation of concepts discussed this week, not simply a description of what happened or a re-statement of definitions. This is to be Reflective Writing. It needs to be an accurate representation of your own understanding.

a. Makes sense

Discuss one thing related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions that makes sense to you. Use enough detail to convince me that you understand.

b. Doesn’t make sense

Discuss one thing related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions that does not make sense to you. Discuss which aspects of the concept confuse you.

c. My Life

Discuss how a concept related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions relates to an experience from your own life.

d. Change in Thinking

Discuss how a concept you now understand related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions is different from what you had previously thought.

e. Resource

Identify a concept that you felt need to understand better. Identify a resource that accomplished the goal of deepening your understanding of the concept in question by doing the following. Describe your personal understanding of the concept prior to finding and using the resource and then afterwards. Report on how the resource accomplished the goal of explaining the concept in question.

DISEASE IN THE SPOTLIGHT WEEK 4

Select a disease that affects one of the organ systems studied this week. Put the name of the disease in the subject line of your post. When choosing a disease, make sure that your selection is unique. Repetitive posts will earn minimal, if any credit. You can always comment on classmates’ post providing additional, in depth insight to fulfill weekly participation requirements.

In your post address following:

1. Name(s) of the disease and the system that is primarily affected by the chosen disease.

2. What category does the chosen disease belong to? (See Module 1)

3. Classify the disease based on its intensity and duration. (acute, chronic, latent).

4. Identify the homeostatic mechanism that has failed.

5. Select two signs (remember that sign is an objective characteristic of the disease) and describe what causes the presence of the selected signs.

6. Select two symptoms (symptom is the patient’s subjective perception of a change in normal body function) and describe what causes the presence of the selected symptoms.

7. What diagnostic tool (choose at least one) would help you in diagnosing this disease and how?

WEEK 4 CONCEPTS

Choose any of the questions below you wish to answer and/or discuss. Indicate your choice in the title, please.

1. Explain how an infectious disease can emerge and spread across the country and the world. Name some public health measures that can prevent disease outbreaks. (Consider portals of entry and exit of pathogens and methods of pathogen transmission.)

2. Nine-year-old Alek is admitted to the emergency room with a closed fracture of the right femur. Radiography reveals that the fracture crosses the distal epiphyseal plate. What concerns should Alek’s healthcare team have about the location of his injury and why?

3. What effect does aging have on muscles and bones? What can be done to prevent or slow down these effects?

4. What role do antibodies play in immunity? How are they produced? How do they work?

5. Paula’s grandfather is diagnosed with lung cancer. His physician orders biopsies of several lymph nodes from adjacent regions of the body. Paula wonders why as her grandfather’s cancer is in the lungs. What would you tell her?

WEEK 4 REFLECTIONS

Indicate your choice in the Title of your response.

I am looking for personal interpretation of concepts discussed this week, not simply a description of what happened or a re-statement of definitions. This is to be Reflective Writing. It needs to be an accurate representation of your own understanding.

a. Makes sense

Discuss one thing related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions that makes sense to you. Use enough detail to convince me that you understand.

b. Doesn’t make sense

Discuss one thing related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions that does not make sense to you. Discuss which aspects of the concept confuse you.

c. My Life

Discuss how a concept related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions relates to an experience from your own life.

d. Change in Thinking

Discuss how a concept you now understand related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions is different from what you had previously thought.

e. Resource

Identify a concept that you felt need to understand better. Identify a resource that accomplished the goal of deepening your understanding of the concept in question by doing the following. Describe your personal understanding of the concept prior to finding and using the resource and then afterwards. Report on how the resource accomplished the goal of explaining the concept in question.

DISEASE IN THE SPOTLIGHT WEEK 5

Select a disease that affects one of the organ systems studied this week. Put the name of the disease in the subject line of your post. When choosing a disease, make sure that your selection is unique. Repetitive posts will earn minimal, if any credit. You can always comment on classmates’ post providing additional, in depth insight to fulfill weekly participation requirements.

In your post address following:

1. Name(s) of the disease and the system that is primarily affected by the chosen disease.

2. What category does the chosen disease belong to? (See Module 1)

3. Classify the disease based on its intensity and duration. (acute, chronic, latent).

4. Identify the homeostatic mechanism that has failed.

5. Select two signs (remember that sign is an objective characteristic of the disease) and describe what causes the presence of the selected signs.

6. Select two symptoms (symptom is the patient’s subjective perception of a change in normal body function) and describe what causes the presence of the selected symptoms.

7. What diagnostic tool (choose at least one) would help you in diagnosing this disease and how?

WEEK 5 CONCEPTS

1. How would you expect the extended use of antibiotics to affect blood clotting?

2. What is shock and why is it so dangerous? Name some symptoms of shock and identify the types of shock based on (a) cause and (b) severity.

3. What physiological factors influence blood pressure?

4. Prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke causes damage to ciliated epithelium that line portions of the respiratory tract. Discuss the implications of this damage.

5.. You spend the night at a friend’s house during the winter and his hot air furnace lacks a humidifier. When you wake up in the morning you have a fair amount of nasal congestion and think you may be coming down with a cold. After a steamy shower and some juice at breakfast, the nasal congestion disappears. Explain.

6. Identify factors in your life that may impact the health of your heart and have impact on your cardiovascular system.

WEEK 5 REFLECTIONS

Indicate your choice in the Title of your response.

I am looking for personal interpretation of concepts discussed this week, not simply a description of what happened or a re-statement of definitions. This is to be Reflective Writing. It needs to be an accurate representation of your own understanding.

a. Makes sense

Discuss one thing related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions that makes sense to you. Use enough detail to convince me that you understand.

b. Doesn’t make sense

Discuss one thing related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions that does not make sense to you. Discuss which aspects of the concept confuse you.

c. My Life

Discuss how a concept related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions relates to an experience from your own life.

d. Change in Thinking

Discuss how a concept you now understand related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions is different from what you had previously thought.

e. Resource

Identify a concept that you felt need to understand better. Identify a resource that accomplished the goal of deepening your understanding of the concept in question by doing the following. Describe your personal understanding of the concept prior to finding and using the resource and then afterwards. Report on how the resource accomplished the goal of explaining the concept in question.

DISEASE IN THE SPOTLIGHT WEEK 6

Select a disease that affects one of the organ systems studied this week. Put the name of the disease in the subject line of your post. When choosing a disease, make sure that your selection is unique. Repetitive posts will earn minimal, if any credit. You can always comment on classmates’ post providing additional, in depth insight to fulfill weekly participation requirements.

In your post address following:

1. Name(s) of the disease and the system that is primarily affected by the chosen disease.

2. What category does the chosen disease belong to? (See Module 1)

3. Classify the disease based on its intensity and duration. (acute, chronic, latent).

4. Identify the homeostatic mechanism that has failed.

5. Select two signs (remember that sign is an objective characteristic of the disease) and describe what causes the presence of the selected signs.

6. Select two symptoms (symptom is the patient’s subjective perception of a change in normal body function) and describe what causes the presence of the selected symptoms.

7. What diagnostic tool (choose at least one) would help you in diagnosing this disease and how?

WEEK 6 CONCEPTS

Choose any of the questions below you wish to answer and/or discuss. Indicate your choice in the title, please.

1. Colorectal cancer often develops from polyps in the intestinal lining. What is a polyp and why might a polyp become cancerous?

2.. Richard M., a self-described couch potato, is 6 ft tall and weighs 240 lb. Calculate Richard’s body mass index. Is Richard overweight or obese? List some diseases associated with obesity.

3. Why do long-haul trailer truck drivers frequently experience kidney problems?

4. What is meant by the word dialysis and how is this principle used for patients with kidney failure? What kind of membranes are used for hemodialysis and for peritoneal dialysis?

WEEK 6 REFLECTIONS

Indicate your choice in the Title of your response.

I am looking for personal interpretation of concepts discussed this week, not simply a description of what happened or a re-statement of definitions. This is to be Reflective Writing. It needs to be an accurate representation of your own understanding.

a. Makes sense

Discuss one thing related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions that makes sense to you. Use enough detail to convince me that you understand.

b. Doesn’t make sense

Discuss one thing related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions that does not make sense to you. Discuss which aspects of the concept confuse you.

c. My Life

Discuss how a concept related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions relates to an experience from your own life.

d. Change in Thinking

Discuss how a concept you now understand related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions is different from what you had previously thought.

e. Resource

Identify a concept that you felt need to understand better. Identify a resource that accomplished the goal of deepening your understanding of the concept in question by doing the following. Describe your personal understanding of the concept prior to finding and using the resource and then afterwards. Report on how the resource accomplished the goal of explaining the concept in question.

DISEASE IN THE SPOTLIGHT WEEK 7

Select a disease that affects one of the organ systems studied this week. Put the name of the disease in the subject line of your post. When choosing a disease, make sure that your selection is unique. Repetitive posts will earn minimal, if any credit. You can always comment on classmates’ post providing additional, in depth insight to fulfill weekly participation requirements.

In your post address following:

1. Name(s) of the disease and the system that is primarily affected by the chosen disease.

2. What category does the chosen disease belong to? (See Module 1)

3. Classify the disease based on its intensity and duration. (acute, chronic, latent).

4. Identify the homeostatic mechanism that has failed.

5. Select two signs (remember that sign is an objective characteristic of the disease) and describe what causes the presence of the selected signs.

6. Select two symptoms (symptom is the patient’s subjective perception of a change in normal body function) and describe what causes the presence of the selected symptoms.

7. What diagnostic tool (choose at least one) would help you in diagnosing this disease and how?

WEEK 7 CONCEPTS

Choose any of the questions below you wish to answer and/or discuss. Indicate your choice in the title, please.

1. Jen, a middle-aged mother of three, is considering a tubal ligation, a contraceptive procedure that involves cutting the uterine tubes. Jen is worired that this might cause her to enter early menopause. Should she be worried?

2. Why is the risk of miscarriage highest at week 12 of pregnancy?

3. Although it is strongly suggested that a pregnant women avoid harmful substances (like alcohol) during their entire pregnancy, why is this advice particularly important during the first trimester?

4.What is the difference between a congenital and a hereditary disorder? List some examples of each.

WEEK 7 REFLECTIONS

Indicate your choice in the Title of your response.

I am looking for personal interpretation of concepts discussed this week, not simply a description of what happened or a re-statement of definitions. This is to be Reflective Writing. It needs to be an accurate representation of your own understanding.

a. Makes sense

Discuss one thing related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions that makes sense to you. Use enough detail to convince me that you understand.

b. Doesn’t make sense

Discuss one thing related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions that does not make sense to you. Discuss which aspects of the concept confuse you.

c. My Life

Discuss how a concept related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions relates to an experience from your own life.

d. Change in Thinking

Discuss how a concept you now understand related to this week’s readings, activities, or discussions is different from what you had previously thought.

e. Resource

Identify a concept that you felt need to understand better. Identify a resource that accomplished the goal of deepening your understanding of the concept in question by doing the following. Describe your personal understanding of the concept prior to finding and using the resource and then afterwards. Report on how the resource accomplished the goal of explaining the concept in question.