Week 5 Lectorial Questions

Rachel lives in a desert environment, and while on a walk on a very hot day she begins to perspire- water mixed with salt leaves her pores, and evaporates from her skin to help keep her cool.

Q1. Identify which part of the kidney nephron is mainly responsible for reducing the water content of the urine. (1 marks)

Q2. Identify where most re-absorption of solutes in the kidney nephron occurs. (1 mark)

Q3. Water from the blood passes first into the nephron through the glomerulus. Describe the structure of the glomerular filter. (50 words or fewer) (2 marks)

Q4. Rachel loses water and salt to the environment in sweat. Identify which hormone the body would be more likely to release to counteract this (aldosterone or vasopressin), and explain why that hormone would be more likely to be released. (150 words or fewer) (2 marks)

Q5. One thing that prevents Rachael from starving in the desert is her kidneys’ ability to reclaim glucose. Describe where this occurs in the nephron, and describe how glucose is reclaimed there. (2 marks) (100 words or fewer)

Q6. The renal threshold of glucose is 180mg/dl, or 10 mmol/L. Explain what would happen if the concentration of glucose in Rachael’s blood was higher than this threshold (2 marks) (100 words or fewer)

Ben presents himself at a doctor’s office with a range of symptoms, including swelling of body tissues, a yellow colour in the whites of his eyes, and excessive bleeding from cuts when he shaves. He has a history of heavy alcohol use. Ben’s has cirrhosis of the liver and cells have begun to die because of too much alcohol.

Q1. Identify the cells in the liver that have most likely been damaged in Ben’s case. (1 mark)

Q2. Ben experiences swelling of the body tissues because being no longer able to produce albumin. Explain how albumin helps to maintain blood volume. (50 words or fewer) (2 marks)

Q3. Ben’s body is no longer able to properly maintain mass balance, which might make it more difficult for doctors to prescribe him drugs to treat his condition. Describe what is mass balance, and why it is important. (50 words or fewer) (2 marks).

Q4. Ben’s body is unable to produce very much high density lipoprotein. Explain why might this increase his risk of developing blocked arteries. (100 words or fewer) (2 marks)

Q5. Ben’s body does not produce very much bile, so his doctors prescribe for him a low-fat diet. Explain why this might be the best treatment for Ben’s condition. In your answer describe how bile interacts with fat (100 words or fewer) (2 marks).

Q6. Doctors testing Ben’s blood find there to be some bacteria and viruses present in both his hepatic portal vein and hepatic vein. Describe the difference in blood carried by the hepatic portal vein and hepatic vein in healthy people. (50 words or fewer) (1 mark).