Question

1. A 47 year old male has been exposed to alcohol for the majority of his adulthood without posing any health risks. This man has, however now been diagnosed with cirrhosis after doubling his alcohol consumption over the past five years, on top of start taking drug. Explain the phenomenon that caused cirrhosis in this 47 year old man.

2. Recently published research articles indicate that patients with endocrine system related diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and adrenal gland disorders are at high risk for COVID19. Use your endocrine system knowledge to briefly discuss how people with these endocrine disorders are deemed to be at high risk.

Answer 1

1.When a person drinks alcohol heavily over the course of decades, the body starts to replace the liver’s healthy tissue with scar tissue called alcoholic liver cirrhosis.As the disease progresses, and more of your healthy liver tissue is replaced with scar tissue, your liver will stop functioning properly.As a result, the body can’t produce enough proteins or filter toxins out of the blood as it should.
Alcoholic liver cirrhosis is the most advanced form of liver disease that’s related to drinking alcohol. The disease is part of a progression. It may start with fatty liver disease, then progress to alcoholic hepatitis, and then to alcoholic cirrhosis. However, it’s possible a person can develop alcoholic liver cirrhosis without ever having alcoholic hepatitis.
Symptoms of alcoholic liver cirrhosis typically develop when a person is between the ages of 30 and 40. Your body will be able to compensate for your liver’s limited function in the early stages of the disease. As the disease progresses, symptoms will become more noticeable.
2.
When your body is already dealing with a separate health condition, it has less energy to put toward fighting an acute infection.Older adults and those with serious chronic medical conditions like heart disease, lung disease, and diabetes are at the highest risk for complications from COVID-19 infection.Chronic hyperglycemia negatively affects immune function and increases the risk of morbidity and mortality due to any infection and is associated to organic complications.This is also the case for COVID-19 infection.