Question

Case Scenario: Your patient has cardiovascular disease (CVD) and has been admitted with these vitals: BP 190/90, HR 100, RR 35. When asked about symptoms, the patient states, "I have a very bad headache and feel light headed." History reveals he has had one heart attack three years ago. He is a pack a day smoker and often drinks more than one drink per day When doing your morning assessment, you find a dime sized wound on his lower leg. The wound is open in the center and red around it. When asked the patient states his feet and legs are cold much of the time and he no longer walks long distances because of pain in his legs. Question: State three possible reasons for the symptoms you are seeing, giving detail as to why this could be happening for each symptom. You will need to defend your answer using specific

Answer 1

Symptom: Bad headache and lightheadedness

Possible reasons:

• Poor blood circulation to the brain.
• Increased blood pressure on the cerebral arteries.
• Decreased volume of blood leads to a lack of oxygen supply to meet the demand of the brain tissue result in headache.

Symptom: Increased blood pressure and pulse rate

Possible reasons:

• Fat deposits shrink the blood vessel which increases pressure in the arteries.
• smoking and alcohol affect the vascular structure which increases pressure on the arteries.
• Increased age affects vascular compatability and leads to increased blood pressure.

Symptom: open wound

Possible reasons:

• Lack of blood circulation to the peripheral arteries results in cold feet.
• Lack of adequate oxygen supply to the tissues results in ischemic of the cells.
• Poor nervous stimulation leads to pain and poor wound healing.