Wearing on Her Nerves by Brown and Ellerton - Case Study Example

Wearing on Her Nerves” by Brown and Ellerton Multiple sclerosis is a condition affecting the sensory andnerve system of human beings. It is characterized by numbness of limbs and weakening of legs. It is caused by the inflammation of the myelin sheath. Nerve impulses are altered from sending messages and this is due to the inflammation of the protein component of the myelin. The condition has no cure and it can render a patient’s limbs useless for the rest of their lives. However, if there is early detection, there are therapy modes of treating the disorder.

Treatment can be administered to slow down the condition. The following essay is about a case study that examines Kathy’s Multiple Sclerosis condition.1. The nervous system consists of sensory systems, which are responsible for perception of sensory information. Receptors and neural pathways that constitute the sensory system effect sensory perception. The human body is a connection of sensory receptors throughout the body that are responsible for message sending to the brain. For example, the skin contains sensory receptors responsible for capturing messages.

The messages are sent to the brain through the neural path to the brain, which then triggers the appropriate reflex action.2. The musculoskeletal system gives organisms, including humans, the ability to move. This system is responsible for support, stability and movement of the body. The motor neuron of the skeletal system is responsible for the skeletal muscle movement. The motor neuron initiates signals to the muscles using the somatic nervous system.3. A motor unit is a constituent of the motor neuron.

It is responsible for the twitching and contraction of the muscles. The motor unit consists of four components. These include the motor neuron in the brain, its axion, peripheral nerve and the neuromuscular junction.4. The contraction of muscles helps the body of a human being to stand up. The thigh muscles, which are initiated by the skeletal muscles system, need to contract. This is a joint mechanism between the muscle fibers and the sensory nerve system. The actin and myosin filaments receive signals from the sensory cells that enable the muscles to contract hence the ability to stand up.5. Skeletal muscle fibers are enormous and multinucleated.

Each muscle contains numerous nuclei in the cell membrane. During growth and development, myoblasts fuse together to form skeletal muscle fibers. The sarcolemma is the cell membrane of the muscles, and sarcoplasm or cytoplasm of the muscle fiber is surrounded by the cell membrane. Myofibrils are branches of transverse tubules in the muscle fiber. They consist of myofilaments, which are made up of actin (thin filaments) and myosin (thick filaments). A sacromere is an organized group of myofilaments, and are the smallest functional units of a muscle.

The protein organization of a sacromere is divided into four parts: myocin, actin, proteins for stabilizing, and proteins that regulate interactions between the filaments.6. In order for an organism to move, muscles need to contract, which is initiated by nervous impulse. Packets of acetylcholine are released into the synaptic cleft because of action potential. The acetylcholine then cause change of resting potential at the motor plate. The release of calcium ions results in movement of thin and thick filaments, which cause muscle contraction.

An enzyme that breaks off acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction and terminates generation of action potentials terminates muscle contraction.7. Yes, Kathy’s medical condition is related to her sensory system. This is because, according to her medical history, her medical issues began with the initiation of ear problems. This can be attributed to the failure of the sensory system since the ear relies on the nervous system for hearing. The problem then spread to her limbs and numbness results due to a failed sensory system.8. Myelin is a dielectric material that constitutes the sheath of nerve cells.

The myelin performs an insulating function in the nerve cell. The function of myelin is to propagate and accelerate the speed of impulses along the nervous system. The impulses move as waves.9. Myelin forms from the outgrowth of glial cell at infancy. In the peripheral nervous system, the neurons are supplied with myelin from the Schwann cells. Oligodendrocytes supply the myelin of the central nervous system.10. Scleroses are a disorder that affects the cells of brain and spinal cord used to carry information to the brain.

They take place in the myelin sheath and occur on the axon of a sensory nerve. Stiffening of the myelin sheath causes of multiple sclerosis. 11. The sclerosis is responsible for the propagation of nerve impulses through the myelin sheath used to send signals. Damage of the myelin alters sending of signals, which results in disorders of the sensory system.12. The (MRI), magnetic resonance imaging is a recent technology that takes pictures of the sensory nerve system and brain. A scan detects where there is myelin damaged.

On the other hand, a spinal tap includes testing a fluid sample from the spine to detect any changes in proteins.13. Steroids constitute proteins in their structure. Therefore, the steroids helped alleviate Kathy’s problems by supplementing the damaged proteins in the myelin sheath. 14. Copaxone is an interferon-based drug used to treat multiple sclerosis. It has mild side effects and many doctors prefer it to many other drugs. Its injection for multiple sclerosis therapy is on a daily basis.

Copaxone works by slowing down the progression of the disease. It works by reducing the number of lesions on the system. These lesions cause relapse messages.15. Avonex and Betaseron among others are drugs that could be used to treat multiple sclerosis. These drugs work in the same way as Copaxone, but the major difference is that their side effects are more severe than the effects of copaxone. They work by reducing the frequency of lesions on the sheaths.16. Kathy experienced a burning sensation in her lower body due to the inflammation of the myelin sheath caused by multiple sclerosis.

There was nothing wrong with her skin, but the multiple sclerosis, which was diagnosed later, weakened her muscles. The muscles of her right leg could not function properly due to the inflammation of the nervous system, which sends messages. This caused numbness on her right leg.17. Kathy’s hearing loss had nothing to do with Multiple sclerosis because the disease only affects the sensory and nervous system. Multiple sclerosis is connected to the spinal cord and the brain; therefore, multiple sclerosis had little to do with the hearing loss.

Works citedCustomer’s file.