Exploring the Effects of Osmosis

Case Study 2

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?

a. A hypotonic environment, this would result in water moving into the cells to try to balance out the environments. The cells would then swell, which is what caused Jennifer’s headache, the cells in her brain were swelling and pushing against her skull.

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

a. All three of them had some type of symptom regarding their head, Jennifer’s headache, Cassandra’s brain swelling and unresponsiveness, and James’s dizziness and convulsing. Some of them also vomited, repeatedly. The organ that seems to have been most affected is the brain, the brain tissue or cells to be more exact.

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?

a. The immediate cause of death I believe was the overflow of water into the brain’s cells, causing them to swell and push against the skull, which caused all of the symptoms and problems. The swelling could lead to organ failure also.

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?

a. I would run tests with the urine like a sodium test to see how much water is being retained. A blood test to see the concentration of solutes in the blood. A metabolic panel, which would also check the amount of sodium in the blood.

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?

a. I...