• Pathophysiology

• Department of Pharmacy
• 3rd stage

Introduction to Pathophysiology
Dr. Widad Abd AL-Jabbar
 Introduction to Pathophysiology
• Objectives
• In this session we will focus on;
• Define pathology and Pathophysiology
• Discuss the basic concepts of disease and its development.
• Briefly discuss each of the five components of the disease process
which include; Prevalence, etiology, pathogenesis, clinical
manifestation, and outcomes
 Pathology
• The word pathology is from Greek, pathos, which means ‘‘feeling, or
suffering’’; and logia means the study of’’
• Pathology is a branch of medical science primarily concerning the
cause, origin, and nature of the disease.
• Body tissue, blood, and other body fluids are analyzed to assist medical
practitioners in identifying the cause and severity of disease and to
monitor treatment.
 Clinical pathology
• Is a medical branch that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease
based on the laboratory analysis of body fluids such as blood and
urine, as well as tissues, using the tools of biochemistry, clinical
microbiology, hematology, immunology, and molecular pathology e.g.
PCR (polymerase chain reaction).
 Pathophysiology
• The pathophysiology may be defined as the physiology of altered
health. The term combines the words pathology and physiology.

• Basically, Pathophysiology is the disordered physiological processes

associated with injury or disease (the immune system).
• This area study how the body reacts to injury or fights off disease.
• The functional changes associated with or resulting from disease or
injury ex,. inflammation in response to an injury.
 Disease
• The term disease means ‘‘without ease’’ (uneasiness), when something
is wrong with body function.

• The term disease broadly refers to any condition that impairs the
normal functioning of the body.

• Diseases are associated with the dysfunctioning of the body’s normal

homeostatic processes.
 Pathogenesis

• The word Pathogenesis comes from the Greek pathos (disease) and
genesis (creation).

• The Pathogenesis of the disease is the biological mechanism that leads

to the disease state. The term can also describe the origin and
development of the disease and whether it is acute, chronic, or
recurrent.
Factors affecting the pathogen
1- Mechanism of action: pathogens directly damage cells, interfere with
cellular metabolism, and render the cell dysfunctional. Because of the
accumulation of pathogenic substances and toxic production.
2- Infectivity: the ability of the pathogen to invade and multiply in the
host.
3- Pathogenicity: the ability of an agent to produce disease depend on its
speed of production, the extent of tissue damage, and the production of
toxin.
4- Virulence: the potency of a pathogen measured in terms of the
number of microorganisms of toxin required to kill the host.
Factors affecting the pathogen
5- Immunogenicity: the ability of pathogens to induce an immune response.
6- Toxigenicity: a factor important in determining a pathogen’s virulence,
such as hemolysin, leucosidine, and other exotoxins, and endotoxins.
Hemolysin destroy erythrocyte, and leucocidin destroys leucocytes, both are
the product of streptococci and staphylococci.
7- Portal of entry: the route by which a pathogenic organism infects the host:
direct contact, inhalation, ingestion, or bite of an animal or insect. The spread
of infection is facilitated by the ability of pathogens to spread through the
lymph and blood into tissue and organ, where they multiply and cause disease
Natural History of the Disease
• The natural history of disease is the course a disease takes place in an
individual from its pathological onset to its eventual resolution
through complete recovery, disability, or death in the absence of
intervention.
• It has four stages
1- stage of susceptibility.
2- stage of subclinical disease.
3- stage of clinical disease.
4- stage of recovery, or disability or death.
 Prevalence
• In a statistical population is defined as the total number of
cases of the risk factor in the population at a given time or the
total number of cases in the population, divided by the
number of individuals in the population.
• Prevalence = a/a + 𝑏
 Etiology
• Etiology is the study of causation or origination
• The word is derived from the Greek, aitiologia,
“giving a reason for” Used in medical and
philosophical theories, where it is used to refer
to the study of why things occur or even
the reasons behind the way that things act.
The causes of disease are known as etiologic factors.
• Among the recognized etiologic agents are biological agents (e.g., bacteria,
viruses), physical forces (e.g., trauma, burns, radiation), chemical agents
(e.g., poisons, alcohol), and nutritional excesses or deficits.
 Etiology
• At the molecular level, it is important to distinguish between
abnormal molecules and molecules that cause disease.

• This is true of diseases such as cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, and
familial hypercholesterolemia, in which the genetic abnormality of
single amino acid, transporter molecule, or receptor protein produces
widespread effects on health.
 Clinical manifestation
• Diseases can manifest in a number of ways.
• Sometimes the condition produces manifestations, such as fever, that
make it evident that the person is sick.
• In other cases, the condition is silent at the onset and is detected
during examination for other purposes or after the disease is far
advanced.
• Signs and symptoms are terms used to describe the structural and
functional changes that accompany a disease.
• A symptom is a subjective complaint that is noted by the person with
a disorder, whereas a sign is a manifestation that is noted by an
observer.
 Signs and symptoms
• Pain, difficulty in breathing, and dizziness are symptoms of a disease.
• An elevated temperature, a swollen extremity, and changes in pupil
size are objective signs that can be observed by someone other than
the person with the disease.
• Signs and symptoms may be related to the primary disorder or they
may represent the body’s attempt to compensate for the altered
function caused by the pathologic condition.
• Many pathologic states are not observed directly—one cannot see a
sick heart or a failing kidney. Instead, what can be observed is the
body’s attempt to compensate for changes in function brought about
by the disease, such as the tachycardia that accompanies blood loss
or the increased respiratory rate that occurs with pneumonia.
• A syndrome is a compilation of signs and symptoms (e.g., chronic
fatigue syndrome) that are characteristic of a specific disease state.
• Complications are possible adverse extensions of a disease or
outcomes from treatment.
• Sequelae are lesions or impairments that follow or are caused by a
disease.
 Outcome
The consequence of the disease or the end of the disease is known as the
outcome which may be any of the following forms
• Complete recovery
• Recovery with disability
• Death
 Morphology
• Morphology refers to the fundamental structure or form of cells or tissues.
• Morphologic changes are concerned with both the gross anatomic and
microscopic changes that are characteristic of a disease.
• Histology deals with the study of the cells and extracellular matrix of body
tissues. The most common method used in the study of tissues is the preparation
of histologic sections—thin, translucent sections of human tissues and organs—
that can be examined with the aid of a microscope.
• Histologic sections play an important role in the diagnosis of many types of
cancer.
• A lesion represents a pathologic or traumatic discontinuity of a body organ or
tissue.
• Descriptions of lesion size and characteristics often can be obtained through the
use of radiographs, ultrasonography, and other imaging methods.
• Lesions also may be sampled by biopsy and the tissue samples subjected to
histologic study.
 Diagnosis
• A diagnosis is a designation as to the nature or cause of a health
problem (e.g., bacterial pneumonia or hemorrhagic stroke). The
diagnostic process usually requires a careful history and physical
examination. The history is used to obtain a person’s account of his
or her symptoms and their progression, and the factors that
contribute to a diagnosis.
• The physical examination is done to observe for signs of altered body
structure or function.
• The development of a diagnosis involves weighing competing
possibilities and selecting the most likely one from among the
conditions that might be responsible for the person’s clinical
presentation.
 Diagnosis
• The clinical probability of a given disease in a person of a given age,
gender, race, lifestyle, and locality often is influential in arriving at a
presumptive diagnosis. Laboratory tests, radiologic studies, computed
tomography (CT) scans, and other
• tests often are used to confirm a diagnosis. An important factor when
interpreting diagnostic test results is the determination of whether
they are normal or abnormal.