Part 3 Hot Tub

Part III - The Final Report

Later Monday Afternoon

Detective Garrison returned to the police headquarters and, after reading the medicals examiners complete report, began the process of writing his own explanation of what happened to the Underhill couple. As he wrote, he thought about all that had happened and began to wonder about the physiology associated with the couple’s death. The level of alcohol found by the medical examiner was high but was not necessarily sufficient to cause their death, but was it a contributing factor? Sam knew that Lasix was used to treat high blood pressure and that both alcohol and heat will reduce blood pressure, but he was unsure about the mechanism. He decided to go to The University of Houston and talk to Rene Volenbach, a physiologist in the biology department. Renee patiently explained her answer to each of the following questions posed by the detective.

Questions:

1. How does the body regulate blood pressure?

* The body has certain mechanisms that help it keep a stable blood pressure or change it when needed. It contains sensors that monitor blood pressure within the walls of arteries that send input signals to the cardiovascular center which sends output signals to the heart and blood vessels to adjust accordingly.  

2.   What were the specific effects of the Lasix, hot water, and alcohol on the couple’s blood pressure?

* Alcohol and Lasix medication should not be mixed due to the effects of sudden drop in blood pressure that could get to the point of orthostatic hypotension, which is caused by standing after sitting or lying down for a while. Other effects are feeling dizzy, light-headed, temporary loss of consciousness, and tachycardia. The hot water temperature, wine, and Lasix caused the body temperature to increase, blood pressure to drop, blood flow to decrease, and dehydration.

2. What could the body have done to reverse the decreasing blood pressure, if it had been possible?

* The body...