SENSES AND THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

TUI University
Montest Bumpers
Module 5 Case Assignment
Anatomy and Physiology
Professor Karmardi Mills
December 17, 2012
What happens with a patient who develops a cataract?
How does cataract formation represent a variance from normal anatomy & physiology?
What happens in sensorineural hearing loss?
How does sensorineural hearing loss represent a variance from normal anatomy & physiology?

SENSES AND THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
For years now researchers believed that cataracts are developed because the proteins in the eye change as people age. The changes in these proteins cause the lens to become cloudy. Smoking, poor nutrition, eye injury, exposure to excessive sunlight, and certain medical conditions such as diabetes, also may be factors that put people at higher risk of developing cataracts. Cataracts develop slowly. Some of the first signs people experience is a difficulty in reading the newspaper, or they experience blurry vision. Over a period of time the eyes become more sensitive to light, and seeing at night becomes especially difficult. A common symptom is that people with cataracts often say they feel they have a film over their eyes, as if they are looking through a piece of gauze. The condition actually may benefit some people who always had trouble seeing things that are near to them, such as the words in a book. The cloudiness of a cataract changes how light is focused and temporarily results in better vision for some people. They may find themselves able to read for the first time without eyeglasses, a condition sometimes called "second sight." As the cataracts worsen, however, eventually these people will experience increasing visual difficulties. The retina lines the inner surface of the back of the eyeball; it contains millions of light-sensitive cells that change light into nerve signals that the brain can interpret.
A cataract results when the clear lens in the eye becomes cloudy. Like frost on a window, the cataract makes it more difficult to see clearly. The reason is that the light passing through the cloudy lens is distorted before it reaches the visual receptors in the retina on the inside rear of the eyeball.

SENSES AND THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
If you want to understand hearing loss you must first know the anatomy of the ear. The ear has three parts the outer, middle, and inner ear. In the outer ear you have the pinna or auricle which collects and funnels sound into the ear canal. In the middle ear you have the eardrum or tympanic membrane where sound is changed into vibrations, three small bones the malleus, incus, and stapes transfer vibrations to the inner ear, lastly you have the inner ear where the cochlea which contains fluid and highly sensitive hair cells, the vestibular nerve which senses sound, rotation and gravity essential for balance and movement more importantly it carries impulses for equilibrium and the cochlear branch carries impulses for hearing.
Sensorineural hearing loss, occurs when the sensory cells of the cochlea or the auditory nerve fibers are dysfunctional. The sound wave is not capable of being transformed inside the cochlea to nervous stimuli. Some examples of sensorineural hearing loss are loud noises, and the most common is age induced hearing loss. Studies have shown that 90 percent of all hearing loss is sensorineural in nature. A sensorineural loss often affects a person’s ability to hear certain frequencies more than others causing them to be distorted even with the help of the most sophisticated hearing aids.
In conclusion we have discussed that a patient with cataracts develops over time and that vision is diminished over time ultimately causing total vision loss if corrective surgery is not performed and how a person with sensorineural hearing loss is affected and what causes it.

SENSES AND ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
References
http://www.humanillnesses.com/original/Cank-Con/Cataracts.html
http://www.hearingloss.org/content/types-causes-and-treatment