Jennifer R. has the “stomach flu” that is going around campus and has been vomit

Question

Jennifer R. has the “stomach flu” that is going around campus and has been vomiting profusely for the past 24 hours. Not only has she been unable to keep down fluids or food, but she has also lost the acidic digestive juices secreted by the stomach that are normally reabsorbed back into the blood farther down the digestive tract.

1.In what ways might this condition threaten to disrupt homeostasis in Jennifer’s internal environment? Lack of acidic juices? Lack of water?

2.What specific homeostatically maintained factors are moved away from normal by her profuse vomiting?

2.What specific body systems respond to the imbalance and HOW do they resist these changes?

Explanation / Answer

Prolonged and excessive vomiting will deplete the body water and may alter the electrolyte status.
Gastric vomiting leads to the loss of acid (protons) and chlorine directly. It mat result in hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis and hypokalemia. A less frequent occurrence results from a vomiting of intestinal contents, including bile acids and HCO3- which can lead to metabolic acidosis.

The patient is said to be in negative fluid balance if the fluid loss is more than the fluid gain. When the body is becoming fluid deficient both antidiuretic and aldosterone hormones act to retain fluid by kidneys and decrease the output in the form of urine.

When body is becoming fluid-deficient, it will be sensed by osmoreceptors in the organum vasculosum of lamina terminalis and subfornical organ. These areas project to the supraoptic nucleus and paraventricular nucleus, which contain neurons that secrete the antidiuretic hormone, vasopressin, from their nerve endings in the posterior pituitary.
This increases the secretion of antidiuretic hormone and retains water from the kidneys and urine output reduced.

Aldosterone retains body water through activation of renin-angiotensin system.

Antiemetics can be used to treat vomiting.

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