Human Pathophysiology: Hypertension and Congestive Heart Failure
Dr. Ally, a 49-year-old professor, was diagnosed with essential hypertension 12 years ago and was on antihypertensive drugs. However, he did not take his medications last year because he was feeling just fine. In addition, he was very busy with work. Nevertheless, he felt tired after work and developed dyspnea while climbing the stairs. Recently, he had a bout of epistaxis (severe nose bleed) with dizziness and blurred vision. He went to the doctor for a checkup. His blood pressure was 180/110, and the doctor found rales or crackles on his chest upon auscultation. The doctor ordered rest and asked him to start his medication again.
What are the patient's problems?
What pathophysiological changes are happening in his eyes and heart?
According to the doctor, the patient might have developed congestive heart failure. Is it right-sided or left-sided?
What medications are likely to have been used? Describe the mechanisms of actions of at least two antihypertensive drugs.
Human Pathophysiology Paper
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Although the patient was diagnosed with hypertension over a decade ago, he had stopped taking antihypertensive medications for over a year when he visited the physician. The patient feels exhausted after work and has dyspnea climbing stairs because the high blood pressure is causing coarctation of the aorta, implying that his left lower heart chamber is overworking to push blood through the narrowed aorta. As a result, blood pressure increases within the left ventricle. High blood pressure also contributes to blurred vision, dizziness, and nose bleeding. The crackles in his chest are due to blood backup, which increases pressure and causes fluid to accumulate in the airways leading to popping sounds. The patient's blood pressure of 180/110 is more than high, thus putting the patient in a hypertensive crisis (U.S. Food & Drug Administration, 2023).
The patient’s heart walls or muscles are swelling because of high blood pressure. The exercises that the patient engages in also catalyze the condition. This makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood effectively (Hegde et al., 2023). The eyes are undergoing vascular alterations in the retinal micro-circulation leading to hypertensive retinopathy. This results in a constant decline in vision, and the patient is likely to become blind if the condition remains untreated (Dziedziak et al., 2022).
Congestive hear...