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Case Study #1 Essay

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Allyson Medina April 30, 2011

Assignment: Case Study #1

The Case: A 47-year-old female presents to a family practice clinic complaining of fatigue. When obtaining initial subjective data, the client admits to not eating red meat and shares that she is a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. She comments that her menses have been irregular with heavy flow over the course of the past six months. On Physical examination, her conjunctiva and mucous membranes are pale. Diagnostic complete blood count is obtained and her hematocrit is 24% and hemoglobin is 8g/dL.

1. Describe how you would assess the patient for health practices and beliefs that are outside of the biomedical and scientific model.
I would …show more content…

Yes, her diet could have caused her to be iron deficient, but there are numerous other possible causative agents. If her diet is to blame, then her diet would need to be adjusted – while respecting her religious beliefs. One could ask the patient if her diet could be altered to include the foods that she has omitted, as the Seventh-Day Adventist Church supports doing what’s best for one’s health, including eating red meats and such medical interventions as blood transfusions (James, 2005).
Besides the patient’s diet, a number of other problems can cause a low H/H resulting in pale conjunctiva and mucous membranes. She claims to have lost more blood recently due to changes in her menses, and although this could be the reason she is loosing blood, there are again, numerous other possibilities. I would have to ask the patient numerous questions from here…
Have you ever had black or tarry looking stools?
How about any stomach pain?
Have you ever been told that you have an ulcer?
Have you ever had a colonoscopy or endoscopy – where they take a camera and look through your mouth down into your stomach; or a camera that goes in your rectum that looks through your bowel and intestines?
What is your family medical history?

3. Identify any age or socioeconomic considerations.
At 47 years of age, women start to enter the time known as perimenopause. Bleeding heavier with irregular periods is typical for this time.

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