Schizophrenia Case Study

Introduction: Contracted Case Analysis
This case highlights a female diagnosed with schizophrenia. The letter written by the sister of the patient indicates 10 years of ongoing symptoms and heavily criticizes the Australian mental health care system. The sister has described feelings of degradation, stress, and discomfort, for herself as well as her mother, as caregivers for the patient. There is clearly not the possibility of a sufficient amount of care available to the patient, which may be the result of a small family. The patient was also left unattended at multiple instances by medical authorities as well as family.

Duty of Care/ Human Rights
As we can see, the patient was not in the proper state of mind to be able to properly self medicate, nonetheless, she was given, by medical authorities, the opportunity to do so. This was plainly not an accurate judgment on behalf of the nurses and doctors seeing as her condition escalated into something much more severe. In this case, the sister of the patient has challenged the current structure in the Australian mental health system in regards to duty of care being more, if not equally important than the right to privacy of a mentally ill person. This is an idea that has been challenged in many countries for many years.

In Indonesia, people with mental illnesses can be restrained against their will, and with no legal basis, be involuntarily treated. There is absolutely no requirement for a legal review of the need for hospitalization and there is no need for consent of the patient or a guardian to be admitted into, and detained in a hospital. (Imansyah et al., 2009). Here we can see the extreme opposite of our case, where the subject is given too many liberties, resulting in a detrimental effect on her health. It is difficult to find the appropriate balance between violation of human rights and fulfillment of the duty of care. However, it is important to act in accordance with the constitution. In doing so, a recommendation would be for the family members present to take a stronger and more present role in guardianship. If this is not possible, the state and medical authorities should assign a professional caregiver for the patient.

Case Study on Stroke Patient

Time and date of arrival: April 5th, 2011 @ 10:24am
Place of arrival: ER
Name: Tyrone Williams
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Race: African American

Symptoms and complaints reported: Abrupt loss of vision and difficulty speaking. Reported sudden loss of strength and coordination (mostly in left side) accompanied by loss of balance.

Medical History: Has history of high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Sedentary lifestyle. Heavy smoker. Absence of all other major illnesses noted.

Family History: No siblings. Father is a heavy smoker and has had two strokes in the past three years. Mother suffers from obesity. Grandparents died of old age and not of a major illness. No other major illness noted.

Social History: No heavy drinking. Smokes 2-3 packs of light cigarettes daily. Sedentary lifestyle. Lives in apartment alone. Works full time as sales executive for Sears Department Store.

Sample Case Study on Euthanasia

Case Study on Euthanasia

Euthanasia, a widely disputed practice, is one that should be accepted in our society. Most people today feel afraid of death, or are they are afraid of dying? Everyone knows it will happen eventually, but as Woody Allen put it, “No one wants to be there when it happens.” The questions of how, when, where, and most importantly, for how long, find their way to the surface of our minds. Everyone wants to die painlessly, to insure a good death one must plan for it. People with an incurable illness or injury should have the right to end their life.

Webster’s dictionary definition for Euthanasia is “Act or method of causing death painlessly, so as to end suffering: advocated by some as a way to death with victims of incurable diseases.” This definition can be interpreted several different ways leaving ample room open for debate. Some believe euthanasia is assisted suicide when there is a distinct difference between the two. To distinguish the difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide one must look at the last act, which is the act without which death would not occur. Assisted suicide is taken place if the person who dies performs the last act. If the patient pushes a switch to trigger a fatal injection after a doctor has inserted an intravenous needle into the patient’s vein or if the patient swallows an overdose of drugs that were provided by a doctor for the purpose of causing death, these are examples of assisted suicide. To determine if the cause of death was considered to be euthanasia one could see if a third party performs the last act that intentionally causes a patient’s death. The third party may give the patient a lethal injection in order to end the patient’s life.

Example Case Study on Syphilis

Case Study on Syphilis

In the last thirty years, the term sexually transmitted disease (STD) has become more and more prevalent in everyday conversation. Many resources describe what has happened with STDs an epidemic in our society. It is estimated that over 12 million cases of infections occur every year (Little, 2000). There are many reasons to attribute to this increase in STDs, but it is mainly due to the rise in both sexual partners and unprotected sex. “Of all age groups, people from 15 to 24 years old make up the largest segment infected with STDs” (Little, 2000).

In the 1960’s, the only prevalent sexually transmitted diseases were syphilis and gonorrhea. Today, over forty years later, more than twenty different diseases infect people every year. These statistics show a significant rise in visibility and diversity (1994).

Syphilis, one of the earliest known STDs, happens to be one of the easiest to treat. While easy to treat, syphilis happens to be one of the most common STDs that infects individuals today. Prior to the development of Penicillin, it has been reported that 73 out of every 100,000 individuals were infected with syphilis. Syphilis is also known as treponema pallidum. Syphilis is often times characterized as the “great imitator”. The nickname is derived from the fact that syphilis carries many symptoms of other diseases making it difficult to diagnose (2001). A small germ called a spirochete, which classify as bacteria, causes syphilis. Syphilis has a long incubation period which means that it takes a long time to grow in the body and show symptoms (Woods, 1997).

Free Case Study on Depression

Case Study on Depression

Research clearly points to a link between depression and biochemical abnormalities in the brain. While much is still to be discovered, evidence strongly suggests that abnormalities in the synaptic transmitter systems of the brain can cause depression.

Two neurotransmitters thought to have significant importance are norepinephrine and serotonin. Depression is usually associated with the reduction in levels of serotonin and norepinephrine, although other neurotransmitters may be involved. Reduced levels of serotonin in the synapse have been associated to cause depression. However, many other factors are involved. Recent studies suggest that a complex system, involving second messenger systems, in which secondary chemicals affect the synthesis and transport of primary neurotransmitters, such as serotonin also play a role. But, it was the research into primary neurotransmitter systems that led the revolution in the treatment of depression during the mid 1950s with the appearance of the first effective antidepressant medications.

The interaction between different neurotransmitters and depression is highly complicated and unclear. In agreement with the serotonin deficiency hypothesis of depression, there is evidence that depressed people have a deficiency of tryptophan, a serotonin precursor. However, while some depressed people respond best to drugs that affect mostly serotonin, others respond more to drugs that affect catecholamines. Thus it seems that there are several biochemically different forms of depression.

Example Case Study on Eating Disorders

Case Study on Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are increasing every year, and can be found in girls from as young as 6 or 7, as well as adult women. It does not help when celebrities flaunt their trimmed and toned bodies all over television and newspapers, receiving so much praise for looking “good”.

Teenagers are the most likely group to develop eating disorders: many of them look up to celebrities and believe they too have to look good to get somewhere in life.

The last thing we need is celebrities promoting radical diets and get-thin-quick secrets, as these could be damaging our health. In most of these diets, the calorie intake that is being recommended is so low, that it would be almost impossible to survive on it. Moreover, the majority of these diet plans cut out main food groups.

People following celebrity diets run the risk of developing eating disorders, such as, anorexia and bulimia.

Anorexia nervosa is an illness which makes the sufferer afraid of gaining weight. Anorexics may set a target weight to reach, but it does not stop there. No matter how thin the sufferers are, they always see themselves as fat and have to keep losing more and more pounds. Anorexics may try to avoid eating food by getting rid of it or hiding it so they are not tempted to eat it. The sufferer may also take laxatives or slimming pills to further weight loss. Anorexia can change the sufferers’ behaviour: they become moody and irritable, cry a lot, weigh themselves constantly and become obsessed with other people’s eating habits. If anorexics cut out dairy products such as milk and cheese, it can result in osteoporosis, which makes the bones in the body become fragile and brittle in old age. Anaemia can be a huge problem for anorexics if they do not get enough iron from meat, spinach or eggs, causing tiredness and heavy periods. However, anorexia can also make periods stop, and cause thinning of hair, yellowing skin and cardiac abnormalities.

Example Case Study on Gonorrhea

Case Study on Gonorrhea

Sexually transmitted disease has been a problem since time immemorial. They are diseases which usually are contracted through sexuall relations. Hippocrates described syphillis-like sores in 460 B.C. One theory of the origin of syphillis in Europe is that Christoper Columbus and his crew returned from the New World of Syphillis. Columbus himself died from an advanced cose of syphillis. I will discuss more on what cause men and women of Gonorrhea at this time.

Gonorrhea is the most common sexually transmitted disease. The bacteria which causes gonorrhea was discovered in 1870. It is called Gonococcus of Neiser named after the scientist who discoverd it. Gonococci can only penetrate certain types of cells in the human body. These cells are found in the cervix,urethra, rectum, the lining of the eyelids, the throat, and the vagina including those of young girls. The bacteria can live only for a short time outside a warm, moist environment. It is possible but rare to catch gonorrhea from contaminated towels, underwear and toilet seats. Goinococci can live for years inside the human body.

Sample Case Study on Drug Addiction

Case Study on Drug Addiction

Introduction
According to a recent report by the Royal College of Physicians (“Alcohol – can the NHS afford it?”), alcohol abuse is a growing concern in the UK, with more than one third of men and one fifth of women regularly consuming more alcohol than the recommended limits. The Scotsman recently reported that deaths related to alcohol consumption in Scotland have trebled in the last 20 years, and that alcohol-related health problems cost the Scottish NHS £100 million per year (Scotsman, 29/09/03). Drug misuse is also on the increase, with a Chamber of Commerce report claiming that illicit drug taking has increased by 30 percent in the last seven years. The Observer claims that ecstasy use has doubled to 2.2 percent of the population in the last five years, a higher proportion than in any other country apart from Australia and Ireland (Observer, 28/09/03).

The sheer scale of alcohol and drug abuse in the UK has obvious consequences for the workplace, especially when it is estimated that up to 75 percent of those with alcohol problems are currently in employment (Forum Issue 29). According to an article in People Management in May 2000, up to 14 million working days a year are lost across Britain due to alcohol-related absence. Ninety per cent of personnel directors from top UK organisations surveyed in 1994 (1995 HEA) stated that alcohol consumption was a problem for their organisation. A more recent study, (Drink, Drugs and Work) published in August 2000 reported that 60 percent of employers complained about employee problems due to alcohol misuse, and 27 percent about problems due to drug misuse.

Despite this, a CIPD study of organizations in the UK published in 2001 shows that around 40 percent of respondents had no formal policy on alcohol or drugs.

This report will identify some of the operational and strategic issues raised by alcohol and drug misuse in the workplace. It will then go on to explore the resources available to organizations looking to develop an alcohol and/or drugs policy and the possible problems associated with policy development. Theories on workplace health and surveys of organizational reality will underpin the evaluative side of the report.

Operational Issues
In the CIPD report “Alcohol and drug policies in UK organizations” (2001), companies cited a variety of operational issues that resulted in the introduction of an alcohol and/or drug policy. Employee absence was foremost amongst these, with 55 percent of respondents naming this as a reason for policy development. Up to 14 million working days are lost each year as a result of alcohol-related illness (People Management, May 2000). Loup (1994) states that drug and alcohol abusers are absent from work two to eight times more often that the average employee. The direct and indirect costs of employee absence are manifold and can include sick pay, overtime for colleagues covering the absence, the cost of hiring and training temporary or replacement staff and the time taken doing this, the demotivation and frustration of remaining staff, and possible further absence as a result. Labour turnover can also be affected, as drug and alcohol users tend to change jobs more frequently than average (Loup).

Disciplinary action as a result of alcohol or drug related incidents, and deterioration in individual performance also figured prominently in the CIPD report as reasons for developing policy, being invoked by 46 and 40 percent of companies respectively. Other responses included damage to customer/client relations (and presumably also damage to the company’s reputation and possible loss of business), decreasing productivity and rising accident levels. Butler (1994) suggests that an employee dependent on drugs may be up to 25 percent less productive than an average employee. Loup agrees with this and also highlights the likelihood of inferior product quality. Furthermore Loup states that the accident rate for drug abusers is about four times that of an average worker, and that up to 40 percent of workplace deaths can be related to drug abuse. The legal implications of accidents caused by workers who are under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs will be discussed later.

Free Case Study on CVA

Case Study on CVA

1. Patient Diagnosis
   A cerebrovascular accident (CVA), which is more commonly known as a stroke, occurs when there is an interruption of blood flow to the brain. The brain requires 20% of the body’s total circulation of blood.. The blood enters the brain from two carotid arteries in the neck, which branch off into multiple arteries that supply each specific area of the brain with oxygen. If the blood flow in any of these arteries is interrupted for longer than a few seconds, brain cells die and cause permanent damage. The results depend on the area of the brain affected, the extent of the damage and the cause of the stroke.
2. Signs and Symptoms
   The first mentioned sign of the onset of a CVA that affected Mr. M is dysphasia, which is the inability to speak. It is also sometimes termed expressive aphasia. The headaches that he had been experiencing also could have suggested to Mr. M. that a CVA was imminent, but a headache could be caused my many other things. On the day after admission Mr. M. shows that most common sign of CVA which is hemiplagia or hemiparalysis. He now has no motor coordination or sensation on his right side. This is caused by the blockage of blood to the left side of his brain which controls the right side of his body. His drowsiness can also be associated with this because of the brain’s deprivation of oxygen.
3. Other Signs and Symptoms
   Some other symptoms that can be seen in a CVA patients are changes in vision. They can have a decrease in visual acuity, experience diplopia, or go blind all together. Another change that can be seen is a change in reception. This is called receptive aphasia. This can be the alteration of the ability to follow verbal direction, or written direction. Weakness or change in level of consciousness can be seen because of the lack of oxygen in certain parts of the brain.
4. Common Tests to Diagnosis
   An easy non invasive test that will assess the signs and symptoms of a stroke is a physical examination and a full neurological assessment. Most common test ordered to confirm a stroke is a head CT. This will show a clot or other blockage in the flow of blood. A doppler study can be ordered to see if the cause of the symptoms is stenosis of the carotid arteries. Another test that could be seen is an ECG. This is usually ordered if a cardiac embolus is suspected.