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The home health nurse is visiting a 30-year-old with sickle cell disease. Assessment findings include spleenomegaly. What information obtained on the visit would cause the most concern? The client:

Eats fast food daily for lunch
Drinks a beer occasionally
Sometimes feels fatigued
Works as a furniture mover

User Heslacher
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Final answer:

For a 30-year-old with sickle cell disease, the most concerning information is that the individual works as a furniture mover, a job involving significant physical exertion which can exacerbate the disease's symptoms and trigger a crisis.

Step-by-step explanation:

The information that would cause the most concern for a 30-year-old with sickle cell disease who works as a furniture mover is the physical exertion associated with manual labor. Sickle cell anemia is a genetic disorder characterized by the production of abnormal hemoglobin S (HbS), which causes red blood cells to become sickle-shaped. This change in shape can lead to a variety of complications, including spleenomegaly, which is the enlargement of the spleen. The sickle-shaped cells can lead to blockages in blood vessels, causing severe pain, tissue damage, and an increased risk for infection.

Additionally, these cells have a decreased lifespan, leading to anemia. Because physical exertion can exacerbate these symptoms and potentially trigger a sickle cell crisis, the patient's occupation involving heavy lifting and strenuous activity is particularly concerning.

Myelofibrosis, another health condition, involves inflammation and scar tissue formation in the bone marrow, impairing the production of blood cells and often resulting in an enlarged spleen. While associated with different pathologies, both sickle cell disease and myelofibrosis share the common complication of spleenomegaly, which serves as a clinical sign of both conditions.

User Fumisky Wells
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