Pathophysiology Exam 1 Study Guide:
Chapter 1: Concepts of Health and Disease
KNOW THIS:
- **Pathophysiology: is the study of the body’s response to dysfunction or disease;
“physiology of altered health”
o Example: Pathophysiology is the mechanism of high blood pressure
Aspects of the Disease Process:
- *Etiology: is the causes of disease
- *Pathogenesis: explains how the disease process evolves – it is the sequence of events
that take place from time of contact with etiologic agent until the expression of the
disease
- *Morphologic changes: refers to both gross anatomic and microscopic changes that are
characteristic of disease
- Clinical Manifestations: can be obvious or silent - for example an illness can cause
fever that makes it evident a person is sick, or there may be no symptoms and disease is
not discovered until it is advanced (many cancers)
- Diagnosis: is the designation of the cause of the health problem
- Clinical Course: describes the evolution of a disease, it may be acute or chronic
Disease Diagnosis and Predictive Factors
KNOW THIS:
*Sensitivity: measures the proportion of positive test results out of all truly positive samples;
(called a True Positive Result). A test’s sensitivity provides you with the percentage chance it
will correctly identify a person who has the disease and test positive on the test
- Sensitivity evaluates how good a test is at detecting positive disease
- Example: a test with 90% sensitivity will correctly return a positive result for 90% of
people who have the disease but will return a negative (** false negative**) for 10% of
people who have the disease and should have tested positive
- Test with 90% sensitive, it will correctly return a positive result for 90% of people who
have the disease
- Will return a negative, or false negative, for 10% of the people
Specificity: measures the true negative rate; (a true Negative Result). A test’s specificity
provides you with the percentage chance it will correctly identify a person who does not have the
disease
- Specificity can be calculated only from among people who do not have the disease
, - Example: a test with 90% specificity will correctly return a negative result for 90% of
people who don’t have the disease but will return a 10% (**false positive**) result for
people who don’t have the disease and should have tested negative
- False positive results are unduly stressful, and False Negative tests can delay diagnosis
and jeopardize the outcome of treatment
KNOW THIS:
- *A test that has high sensitivity, will have lower specificity
o An example of where you want to know the sensitivity and specificity is a
pregnancy test
Epidemiology
Epidemiology: the study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations; study of
disease occurrence in human populations, looks for patterns and factors in particular disorder and
disease
- Study risk factors for multifactorial disease such as heart disease and cancer in
populations
- “Whether something happens” rather than how
- Epidemiologic studies serve as a basis for clinical decision making, allocation of
healthcare dollars, and development of public health policies
Sources of Information for Epidemiologists:
*KNOW THIS: Know the difference between morbidity and mortality
- Morbidity: describes the effects an illness has on a person’s life
o Concerned with incidence, persistence, and long-term consequences
o *Significant impact on a person’s life; long term consequences of disease
o Ex: Arthritis has a low death rate but has a significant impact on a person’s life
- Mortality: pertains to the causes of death in a given population
o Statics to calculate leading causes of death
,Three Levels of Disease Prevention:
*KNOW THIS: Know the difference between the three
- Primary: removing risk factors so disease does not occur
o No disease present
o Ex: folic acid to prenatal/pregnant women, counseling people how to adopt
healthy lifestyle, immunizations
- Secondary: early detection and treatment when disease is still curable
o Asymptomatic
o Ex: Paper smear, history taking, PE, labs, colonoscopy
- Tertiary: preventing further deterioration or reducing complication of disease
o Clinical course/intervention
o Ex: antibiotic use, b-adrenergic drugs to decrease death in MI, provision for eye,
foot, and cardio exams in people with DM
Evidence-Based Practice: the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence
in making decisions about the care of individual patients
- MUST be based on current evidence
Cross sectional studies: can be used to compare the prevalence of a disease in those with a
specific factor with the prevalence of a disease in those who are unexposed
- Example: Heart disease in smokers vs. nonsmokers
Case control studies: comparing two groups – those with a disease or condition (cases) and a
very similar group of people who do not have the disease or condition (controls)
- Example is the characteristics of maternal alcohol consumption in infants born with FAS
(cases) can be compared with those in infants born without the syndrome (controls)
- Another example would be lifeguards who developed facial skin cancers (cases)
compared to lifeguards who did not develop facial skin cancers (control)
Cohort studies (also known as Longitudinal studies): are followed over a period of time to
observe specific outcome
- May be a single group or two groups specifically selected where one group has been
exposed and the other has not, or a single exposed group in which the results are
compared with the general population
, Chapter 2: Cell and Tissue Characteristics
*KNOW THIS:
Transcription: occurs in the cell nucleus and is the process in which RNA is synthesized from
the DNA template; occurs when the DNA is copied into a complementary strand of mRNA
- *Messenger RNA (mRNA): is formed from DNA in a process call **transcription
- mRNA travels to ribosomes in the cytoplasm so the instructions can be used to make
proteins
- **transcription
Translation: after the mRNA is processed (adding nucleic acids to the ends and splicing out the
exons), it is a mature molecule and is passed into the cytoplasm of the cell, where translation
occurs. Translation is the synthesis of a protein using the mRNA template
- *Transfer RNA (tRNA): transports amino acids to ribosomes so that mRNA can be
turned into a sequence of amino acids, this is known as **translation, and uses mRNA
template to link amino acids to synthesized proteins
- The new polypeptide chain must fold up into its unique three-dimensional conformation
- Molecular Chaperones: special classes of proteins that assist in the folding of many
proteins to make more efficient
o Disruption of these chaperoning mechanisms causes intracellular molecules to
become denatured and insoluble
o These denatured proteins tend to stick together, precipate and form inclusion
bodies which is a pathological process that occurs in Parkinsons, Alzheimers,
and Huntington Disease
Functional Components of the Cell
KNOW THIS
- Protoplasm: the colorless material compromising the living part of the cell, including the
cytoplasm, nucleus, and other organelle; intracellular fluid; water (70-85%), proteins,
lipids, carbohydrates, electrolytes
-
o *Electrolytes within protoplasm include:
Potassium, Magnesium, Phosphate, Sulfate, and Carbonate Ions
o Small quantities of sodium, chloride, and calcium are present and participate in
reactions necessary for the cells metabolism and they help generate signals in
neurons, muscle cells, and other cells
Chapter 1: Concepts of Health and Disease
KNOW THIS:
- **Pathophysiology: is the study of the body’s response to dysfunction or disease;
“physiology of altered health”
o Example: Pathophysiology is the mechanism of high blood pressure
Aspects of the Disease Process:
- *Etiology: is the causes of disease
- *Pathogenesis: explains how the disease process evolves – it is the sequence of events
that take place from time of contact with etiologic agent until the expression of the
disease
- *Morphologic changes: refers to both gross anatomic and microscopic changes that are
characteristic of disease
- Clinical Manifestations: can be obvious or silent - for example an illness can cause
fever that makes it evident a person is sick, or there may be no symptoms and disease is
not discovered until it is advanced (many cancers)
- Diagnosis: is the designation of the cause of the health problem
- Clinical Course: describes the evolution of a disease, it may be acute or chronic
Disease Diagnosis and Predictive Factors
KNOW THIS:
*Sensitivity: measures the proportion of positive test results out of all truly positive samples;
(called a True Positive Result). A test’s sensitivity provides you with the percentage chance it
will correctly identify a person who has the disease and test positive on the test
- Sensitivity evaluates how good a test is at detecting positive disease
- Example: a test with 90% sensitivity will correctly return a positive result for 90% of
people who have the disease but will return a negative (** false negative**) for 10% of
people who have the disease and should have tested positive
- Test with 90% sensitive, it will correctly return a positive result for 90% of people who
have the disease
- Will return a negative, or false negative, for 10% of the people
Specificity: measures the true negative rate; (a true Negative Result). A test’s specificity
provides you with the percentage chance it will correctly identify a person who does not have the
disease
- Specificity can be calculated only from among people who do not have the disease
, - Example: a test with 90% specificity will correctly return a negative result for 90% of
people who don’t have the disease but will return a 10% (**false positive**) result for
people who don’t have the disease and should have tested negative
- False positive results are unduly stressful, and False Negative tests can delay diagnosis
and jeopardize the outcome of treatment
KNOW THIS:
- *A test that has high sensitivity, will have lower specificity
o An example of where you want to know the sensitivity and specificity is a
pregnancy test
Epidemiology
Epidemiology: the study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations; study of
disease occurrence in human populations, looks for patterns and factors in particular disorder and
disease
- Study risk factors for multifactorial disease such as heart disease and cancer in
populations
- “Whether something happens” rather than how
- Epidemiologic studies serve as a basis for clinical decision making, allocation of
healthcare dollars, and development of public health policies
Sources of Information for Epidemiologists:
*KNOW THIS: Know the difference between morbidity and mortality
- Morbidity: describes the effects an illness has on a person’s life
o Concerned with incidence, persistence, and long-term consequences
o *Significant impact on a person’s life; long term consequences of disease
o Ex: Arthritis has a low death rate but has a significant impact on a person’s life
- Mortality: pertains to the causes of death in a given population
o Statics to calculate leading causes of death
,Three Levels of Disease Prevention:
*KNOW THIS: Know the difference between the three
- Primary: removing risk factors so disease does not occur
o No disease present
o Ex: folic acid to prenatal/pregnant women, counseling people how to adopt
healthy lifestyle, immunizations
- Secondary: early detection and treatment when disease is still curable
o Asymptomatic
o Ex: Paper smear, history taking, PE, labs, colonoscopy
- Tertiary: preventing further deterioration or reducing complication of disease
o Clinical course/intervention
o Ex: antibiotic use, b-adrenergic drugs to decrease death in MI, provision for eye,
foot, and cardio exams in people with DM
Evidence-Based Practice: the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence
in making decisions about the care of individual patients
- MUST be based on current evidence
Cross sectional studies: can be used to compare the prevalence of a disease in those with a
specific factor with the prevalence of a disease in those who are unexposed
- Example: Heart disease in smokers vs. nonsmokers
Case control studies: comparing two groups – those with a disease or condition (cases) and a
very similar group of people who do not have the disease or condition (controls)
- Example is the characteristics of maternal alcohol consumption in infants born with FAS
(cases) can be compared with those in infants born without the syndrome (controls)
- Another example would be lifeguards who developed facial skin cancers (cases)
compared to lifeguards who did not develop facial skin cancers (control)
Cohort studies (also known as Longitudinal studies): are followed over a period of time to
observe specific outcome
- May be a single group or two groups specifically selected where one group has been
exposed and the other has not, or a single exposed group in which the results are
compared with the general population
, Chapter 2: Cell and Tissue Characteristics
*KNOW THIS:
Transcription: occurs in the cell nucleus and is the process in which RNA is synthesized from
the DNA template; occurs when the DNA is copied into a complementary strand of mRNA
- *Messenger RNA (mRNA): is formed from DNA in a process call **transcription
- mRNA travels to ribosomes in the cytoplasm so the instructions can be used to make
proteins
- **transcription
Translation: after the mRNA is processed (adding nucleic acids to the ends and splicing out the
exons), it is a mature molecule and is passed into the cytoplasm of the cell, where translation
occurs. Translation is the synthesis of a protein using the mRNA template
- *Transfer RNA (tRNA): transports amino acids to ribosomes so that mRNA can be
turned into a sequence of amino acids, this is known as **translation, and uses mRNA
template to link amino acids to synthesized proteins
- The new polypeptide chain must fold up into its unique three-dimensional conformation
- Molecular Chaperones: special classes of proteins that assist in the folding of many
proteins to make more efficient
o Disruption of these chaperoning mechanisms causes intracellular molecules to
become denatured and insoluble
o These denatured proteins tend to stick together, precipate and form inclusion
bodies which is a pathological process that occurs in Parkinsons, Alzheimers,
and Huntington Disease
Functional Components of the Cell
KNOW THIS
- Protoplasm: the colorless material compromising the living part of the cell, including the
cytoplasm, nucleus, and other organelle; intracellular fluid; water (70-85%), proteins,
lipids, carbohydrates, electrolytes
-
o *Electrolytes within protoplasm include:
Potassium, Magnesium, Phosphate, Sulfate, and Carbonate Ions
o Small quantities of sodium, chloride, and calcium are present and participate in
reactions necessary for the cells metabolism and they help generate signals in
neurons, muscle cells, and other cells
