Pathologies of the Integumentary System

1. Pathologies of the Integumentary System

2. Pathologies • Pathology: the study of disease • Studying how injury occurs to cells and tissues, how body responds to injury • Pathos: feeling • Ology: study of

3. 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.

4. Baldness • Loss of hair • Causes: • Thyroid Problems • Genetic. Alopecia Areata:Thecondition 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.

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.)

9. 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)

10. 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

11. 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