Case Study_ Grandma Has a Headache
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School
Tallahassee Community College *
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Course
BSC2085
Subject
Anatomy
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
rtf
Pages
4
Uploaded by CorporalBee3834
Mia D’Aurio
Mrs. Strange
Anatomy & Physiology
4/11/2023
Grandma Has a Headache Case Study
1.
The symptoms Shirley Daniels is experiencing, such as collapsing, difficulty speaking, lost sensation in the right side of her face, and trouble moving her right arm are all signs of an ischemic stroke. According to Mayo Clinic, an ischemic stroke occurs when “
the blood supply to part of the brain is interrupted or reduced, preventing brain tissue from getting oxygen and nutrients” This brain reduction was most likely caused by Daniels’ many years
of smoking, and high blood pressure. Ischemic strokes are caused by blocked
arteries, which happen when there are many fatty deposits in the bloodstream. These fatty deposits most likely built up because Daniels is overweight and the continuous smoking for years probably also affected her arteries' health. Having high blood pressure also narrows the bloodstream which makes it easier to develop a block.
2.
Based on the persisting symptoms such as the slight paralysis of the right side of the face, the diminished two-pin prick discrimination on the right side of the head and arm, and the difficulty articulating answers verbally while still being able to respond to complicated demands and answer questions by writing down the answers, the left hemisphere of the brain was damaged
during the ischemic stroke. The left hemisphere being damaged would cause motor impairments on the right side of the body and the left hemisphere controls most language functions which is why when it is damaged it is harder
for people affected to answer questions verbally. More specifically in the left hemisphere, the thalamus, which controls most senses in the brain was damaged which would cause numbness or slight paralysis on the right side of
the face. That would also affect speech, but the main area of the brain affected relating to Daniels’ articulation issue is Broca’s area, located in the frontal lobe, which controls motor speech. That is why she is having trouble articulating words but can write them down just fine. The diminished pinprick and two-point discrimination on the right side of Daniels’ head and arm were also most likely caused by damage to the left hemisphere of the parietal lobe which focuses on sensory awareness. 3.
When Broca’s aphasia occurs, according to the Natural Center of Medicine, “
output of spontaneous speech is markedly diminished and there is a loss of normal grammatical structure” Which means words like but, and, and or are taken from the person affected’ vocabulary. This explains Daniels’ speech issues because that loss of propositions would make it much harder to answer questions verbally, and format sentences in a way that makes sense. The relationship between Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area is Wenicke’s area
controls the ability to understand information and speech while Broca’s area controls speech verbalization. They are connected through a neural pathway
so when someone asks you a question you can comprehend it and then communicate the answer-back. Daniels’ Wernicke’s area wasn’t damaged as she can still comprehend the questions and answer them on paper. 4.
Daniels’ is left-handed, and has been left-handed throughout all of her life. Being lefthanded means your dominant hemisphere is the right side. As all of Daniels’ persisting symptoms affect the right side hemisphere of the brain her non-dominant hemisphere was damaged during the stroke. This can also be seen through the damage done to the partial lobe causing the diminished pinprick and two-point discrimination. That symptom was caused by Hemineglect in the parietal lobe which almost only happens when your non-
dominate side of the parietal love is affected during a stroke.
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Bibliography:
Aguirre, Gloria. “Speech & Language.” Memory and Aging Center
, 2023, https://memory.ucsf.edu/symptoms/speech-language#:~:text=Wernicke's%20area
%20is%20a%20critical,it%20is%20written%20or%20spoken. Rehab, Flint. “Areas of the Brain Affected by Stroke: Location Matters.” Flint Rehab
, 21 Oct. 2022, https://www.flintrehab.com/areas-of-the-brain-affected-by-
stroke/#parietal. Wroten, Michael. “Broca Aphasia - Statpearls - NCBI Bookshelf.” Broca Aphasia
, 13 Feb. 2023, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK436010/.