Water Can Kill

Part I

1. What sort of environment (hypertonic, isotonic, hypotonic) does consuming excessive amounts of pure water create in the body fluid that surrounds your cells? What effect would this have on your cells?

Consuming excessive amounts of pure water in the body fluid that surrounds your cells creates a hypertonic environment. The effect it has on your cells is that is causes them to swell due to the movement of water.

2. What types of symptoms did Jennifer, Cassandra, and James have in common? Which organ or tissue seems to have been most affected?

Jennifer and James both suffered nausea and vomiting. Cassandra’s symptoms weren’t really brought out to us as to what she all had happening. The organ or tissue that was most affected would have been the brain with the headaches. The headaches occurred because of the brains limited capacity.

3. Keeping in mind your answers to questions 1 and 2, what do you think the immediate cause of death was for Jennifer, Cassandra, and James?

The immediate cause of death for Jennifer, Cassandra, and James would have to be the swelling of the brain and the vessels which lead to it. The swelling leads to a maximized capacity which leads to brain death.

4. If you suspected that a patient’s symptoms were caused by the condition suffered by Jennifer, Cassandra, and James, what kinds of test would you run to confirm your suspicions?

If I suspected that a patients symptoms were caused by the condition the other three had the types of tests I would run in order to confirm my suspicion would be blood test and urine tests.

5. Once you knew the cause of their symptoms, what kind of emergency treatment might you try for a patient like Cassandra or James if you were the doctor in charge of their care?

Once I knew the cause of the symptoms the emergency treatment I would try would have to be a procedure to pump the fluids out of the body. You would do this in order to get rid of the fluid and decreasing your risk of having your...