Question

Rowan H. is a 65-year old man in reasonably good health. He is 68 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds. He takes a daily multivitamin supplement and over-the-counter antacids for heartburn. His usual diet includes lean meat, chicken, fish, and fresh vegetables and fruit in season from his garden. He now reports having severe heartburn after a family reunion picnic over the Labor Day weekend and over the past two days has experienced diarrhea and painful stomach cramps.

Required:
a. Based on his history, name at least two reasonable explanations for Rowan's sudden onset of diarrhea and cramps.
b. What may explain Rowan's symptoms of heartburn?
c. If food poisoning is suspected, how might this be related to Rowan's regular use of antacids?
d. What immediate treatment would you suggest for his current symptoms?

Answer 1

1-The patient's heartburn symptoms could be referring to gastritis or a gastric ulcer.

2-The symptoms of heartburn can be due to food poisoning, or due to the advancement of a stomach disease, or even from taking low-quality non-prescription antacids. The reasons can be many, including a possible celiac disease, for that specific studies are required to certify the diagnosis.

3) No

4-Immediate treatment would be a diet low in fat, easily digested, where the flours will be restricted to be able to corroborate if it is an autoimmune disorder like dairy products, since alterations due to lactose intolerance are not ruled out.

In addition to that, the patient would be restricted from taking antibiotics to be able to maintain the intestinal flora or aggravate the condition to ulcerative colitis, and finally, a quality antacid under prescription would be indicated and the denial of the consumption of anti-inflammatories, since these collaborate with inflammation or ulceration of gastric tissue.

Step-by-step explanation:

Gastritis or gastric ulcerative lesions must be respected with balanced diets, anti-inflammatories should not be administered orally as they worsen the picture, I also do not include those antibiotics that put the normal flora of the person at risk, and finally the reasonable and conscious use of antacids.