Transcript Pathologies of the Integumentary System

Pathologies of the
Integumentary System
Pathologies
 Pathology: the study of disease
 Studying how injury occurs to cells and tissues,
how body responds to injury
 Pathos: feeling
 Ology: study of
Acne
 Acne typically appears on your face, neck,
check, back and shoulders, which are the
areas of your skin with the largest number of
functional oil glands.
 Cause: Occurs when the opening of hair cells
are blocked by dead epidermal cells. The oil
from the sebaceous glands gets trapped and
bacteria that live in your skin build up and
cause irritation that leads to inflammation
 Treatment: Acne treatments work by
reducing oil production, speeding up skin cell
turnover, fighting bacterial infection, and
reducing the inflammation of the affected
area.
Baldness
 Loss of hair
 Causes:
 Thyroid Problems
 Genetic. Alopecia Areata:The condition is
brought on by an auto-immune disorder in
which your own body attacks and destroys
its own hair follicles.
 Scalp infections
 Skin disorders
 Treatments: There are a variety of
treatments that include steroids and
surgical implants. These try to stimulate
the growth of the hair follicles or replace
the destroyed ones.
Vitiligo
 A condition in which your skin loses melanin
causing slowly enlarging white patches or
irregular shapes to appear on your skin.
 Cause: Vitiligo occurs when the cells that produce
melanin die or no longer produce melanin. It may
be due to an immune system disorder.
 Treatment:
 Steroid Creams – sometime help the
melanocytes stay alive and create pigment
 Depigmentation – bleach the skin to match
the color of the lighter patches
 Skin transplants – replace the damaged
melanocytes
Psoriasis
 A chronic (reuccuring) condition where the
skin inflames and becomes covered in silvery
scales
 Cause: The epidermis continues to replicate
uncontrollably (hyperplasia). Possibly
because of antibodies stimulating the growth
but we don’t really know exactly why.
 Treatment: Drugs that stop the antibodies
from communicating with the epidermal
cells or that stop the epidermal cells from
causing an inflammatory response.
Eczema
 A reoccurring epidermal condition that causes
dryness, flaking, redness, inflammation, and
sometimes blistering and bleeding
 Cause: Usually caused by an irritant coming in
direct contact with the skin, an allergen being
consumed, or hormone imbalances; although
there are many other causes.
 Treatment: Steroid creams or immune system
regulators which prevent the immune system
from reacting and causing the inflammation.
Also, monitoring the diet for foods that lead to
the inflammatory response and removing the
allergen once identified.
Athlete’s Foot
 Scaling, flaking and itching of the
infected area, may spread to the groin
at which point it is called “jock itch”
 Cause: caused by a fungal infection
 Treatment: anti-fungal drugs,
recommend keeping feet clean and dry
(i.e. drying between toes after
showering, baby powder in sneakers,
etc.)
Albinism
 Large patch of white skin or the entire
body is white (including white hair and
red irises in the eyes). Lack of melanin
leads to no protection from the sun and
thus sunburn occurs easily.
 Cause: Congenital disorder. Bodies do
not produce an enzyme needed for the
production of melanin.
 Treatment: None. Recommended to
avoid direct sunlight especially during the
hours that the sun is strongest (12-2pm)
Skin Cancer
 Different types of cancerous cells that form around the skin
 Three main types:
 Watch out for:
 Growing
 Changing shape
 Bleeding or itching
 Causes:
 Excessive exposure to UV light (wear sunscreen!)
 Burn, radiation, strong chemicals
 Treatment:
 Surgical: excision, Mohs surgery
 Curettage/electrodesiccation: scraping/burning off cancer cells
Burns
 Three types: affecting different layers of skin:
 First degree: outer layer of skin
 Second degree: (partial thickness) outer and underlying layer of
skin
 Third degree: (full thickness) deeper tissue
 Causes: dry heat (fire), wet heat (steam, hot liquids),
radiation, friction, sun, electricity, chemicals
 Treatment: (for major burns)
 Administer IV fluids faster than losing
 Debridement: removal of dead tissue from burn (prevent
infection)
 Skin grafts: transferring skin to help close wound, preventing
entry of microorganisms