CASE STUDY

Medicine: Case Study on Cough

[Name of the Institute]

Medicine: Case Study on Cough

The Case

A frail elderly man seeks advice about his cough, which keeps him awake at night. He has always had a “weak chest” but now the cough is causing soreness. He had tried a cough syrup “Linctus”, purchased in the pharmacy, but stopped it when he realised it was sweet and might upset his diabetes.

Discussion

The patient is diabetic, and he is suffering from cough which keeps him awake all night. He took a cough syrup “Linctus” which he stopped as he thought that it might upset his diabetes. All syrups contain sugar to some extent. Consuming a teaspoon of a cough syrup will not harm his diabetes. Linctus is not only a cough syrup; it also cures the sore-throat (Wells 2003, pp. 60-79).

Most cough medicine contains the active ingredient in sugar syrup. There are many variables, that need to be considered, such as (Davidson 2000, pp. 247-269):

Is the patient a type 1 or type 2 diabetic?

Is the diabetes well controlled?

Does the patient measure their blood sugar multiple times each day?

Has the patient suffered from complications related to diabetes?

Do they also have high blood pressure that is uncontrolled or badly controlled?

Diabetes affects 6% of the population. The chances of getting it increases as a person grows older, so that above seventy years have about 15% of people. It is essential to educate patients to control their diabetes properly, it can lead to other diseases as or more important than diabetes itself cardiovascular disease, neurological, retinopathy (eye disease that can lead to blindness) and nephropathy (disease the kidney). The time of onset of disease and the causes and symptoms presented by patients depend on the type of diabetes involved.

Type 1 Diabetes

The most frequent age shown in childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. Usually occur abruptly, and often regardless of prior family history. It caused by progressive destruction of pancreatic cells, which are those that produce insulin. This has to be given artificially from the beginning of the disease. Its particular symptoms are increasing need to drink and the amount of urine, tiredness and weight loss.

Type 2 diabetes

Usually occurs in older age and is about ten times more frequent than before. Generally, there is the fact that they also suffer or have suffered other members of the family. It arises due to low insulin production, coupled with insufficient use of the substance by the ...