Todd is in the emergency room, complaining of severe back pain and pain when trying to urinate. The physician has ordered blood tests and urinalysis to measure levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and phosphates. What possible reason would the physician have for doing this? What would the physician conclude if the results of the blood test show high levels of PTH and calcium and the urinalysis
shows high levels of phosphate? How are calcium and phosphates related?
What will be an ideal response?
Based on the symptoms that Todd is experiencing, the physician is likely considering kidney stones to be the cause
of severe back pain. If there is a problem with hypersecretion of parathyroid hormone, this would cause increased
calcium levels in the blood, and cause the kidneys to exchange more phosphates for calcium, leading to high urine
levels of phosphates. If calcium levels in the blood are very high, the kidney will not be able to reabsorb all of the
calcium, leading to the formation of kidney stones out of calcium phosphate.
You might also like to view...
In a lumbar puncture (spinal tap), fluid is extracted from the
A. central canal of the spinal cord. B. epidural space. C. subdural space. D. epipial space. E. subarachnoid space.
The inner portion of the adrenal gland is called the ________.
Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).
Long-term adaptations make the body more efficient in responding to an ongoing or repetitive challenge in homeostasis
a. True b. False Indicate whether the statement is true or false
Functions of astrocytes include all of the following except
A) maintaining the blood-brain barrier. B) conducting action potentials. C) absorbing excess neurotransmitter. D) responding to neural tissue damage. E) forming a three-dimensional framework for the CNS.