Mechanism of Action of Aspirin and Morphine at the Cellular and Receptor Level SBI242

SBI242 Case Study

Value: 25% of the total grade

Length: 800 words, excluding references

Task: Refer to the following case and answer the associated questions.

Case:

You are working in a remote community health clinic. John is a 65-year-old male who comes to your clinic complaining of stomach pain, especially after eating. He thinks he might have a stomach ulcer. He also states that he is always feeling tired, sometimes gets dizzy and he finds it difficult to breathe. John also tells you that he is often constipated.

On further questioning John tells you that he suffers from osteoarthritis in his knees and in addition, he was in a car accident several years ago and suffers from chronic back pain. John regularly smokes cigarettes and is a regular heavy drinker of alcohol.

John tells you that he takes the following medications consistently for his medical conditions:

Aspirin 300 mg every 4-6 hours as required.

Morphine 30 mg twice daily as required

John has also been drinking at least 6 8 heavy strength beers every night as he claims it helps with his pain.

You consider that Johns symptoms could be related to several new medical conditions however, they have been ruled out.

Even though John is taking his medications within recommended dosage guidelines, you now suspect that Johns symptoms could be related to his medications and alcohol intake.

Questions:

Q1. Detail the pharmacological mechanism of action (MOA) of aspirin and morphine. The MOA needs to be explained in depth at the receptor and cellular level and needs to include how the MOA results in a therapeutic effect. Also, explain how this mechanism affects the action potential of the cell.

Q2. Look at Johns presenting complaints. Explain which medication could be responsible for each of Johns complaints and why. You will need to explain in depth, at the receptor and cellular level, the mechanism of action of the medication and how it could cause the symptom that John is experiencing.,

Q3. A) What is the mechanism of actions (MOAs) of alcohol? You need to describe these MOAs in detail at the receptor and cellular level.

1. B) Describe any interactions between Johns medications and any other substances that John consumes? Explain pharmacologically how these substances interact with Johns medicines at the receptor and cellular level and what could be the consequences of these interactions.

Q4. A) Based on your answer to Q2, What immediate actions would you recommend to John in order to prevent further complications with his ulcer?

1. B) John goes to the doctor to treat his ulcer. Using your knowledge of pharmacology, what recommendations might the doctor make regarding managing the side effects that John has experienced due to interactions with his pain medications?

Your recommendations must be in line with current therapeutic guidelines and Recommendations must be supported with current evidence from the literature.

Please use referenced evidence to support all your answers to the above questions. (e.g. journal articles, textbooks, valid medical websites with authors etc).

Instructions for submission:

Extensions: For details on how to apply for extensions and policy/procedures, please see the section "late submission and extension" under the assessment tab.

Presentation: This assignment is to be submitted via Learnline as a Microsoft word document. No other form of submission is acceptable including email, hand delivery or post.

It is advised to have a footnote on your assessment containing your name, student number and unit code. No cover sheet is required but please identify each page.

A receipt shall appear upon completed submission.

Owing to the number of students, the reading of pre-submission drafts, proof-reading or pre-submission feedback of any kind is not available.

Please read the file assessment rules as a guide in preparing your assignment. Please contact the Learnline technical support if you have problems submitting the assignment.

It is expected that your submission will adhere to the following requirements:

Maximum word limit: 800

Font size: 12

Font Type: preferably Arial or Calibri

Line space: anywhere from 1.5 to 2

Document type: Microsoft word.

Please label each question answered. E.g. Q1., etc. Answer each question separately. Do not answer in essay form.

You are expected to include 5-10 relevant references less than 10 years old giving evidence of research.

You are expected to use journals, text-books or valid medical website databases. Websites such as drgoogle, webmd, drugbank, mayoclinic etc, are not suitable sources for academic writing.

You are expected to include in-text references as well as a reference list as per APA referencing style.

Reference lists and in-text citations are not counted in the word count.

Please use APA (7th ed.) referencing (see CDU Library section for information).

Assessment criteria: The assignment will be marked according to the marking rubric.