Pharmacotherapy for Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Disorders

The patient HL is suffering from an unknown illness, the symptoms of which resemble GI and hepatobiliary disorders; however, upon obtaining information about the patients personal medical history, it becomes clear that the underlying cause of the symptoms might be more complex than first realized: the patient is a drug abuseror at least has a history of drug abuse (and it is unclear at this time whether the patient is abusing drugs again or not). The patient is also possibly suffering from Hepatitis C. As there is no clear indication of the cause of the patients nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, the first step is to try to stabilize the patient by ensuring the bodys fluids are at a sufficient level. The next step would be to conduct an investigation that goes more in depth to determine the nature of the patients problems. That will require asking the patient questions about drug use and personal history.

Hepatitis C, if present in the patient, could be determined as a cause through an inspection of the blood...

However, the patient is also taking a number of prescription drugs, such as Synthroid, Nifedipine, and Prednisone, all of which could be having side effects on the patients...…for example, that the primary roles of endogenous ghrelin and motilin in the digestive system are to increase appetite or hedonic eating (ghrelin) and initiate phase III of gastric migrating myoelectric complexes (motilin), which is why these receptors have been identified for study: Ghrelin and motilin also both inhibit nausea. In clinical trials, the motilin receptor agonist camicinal increased gastric emptying, but at lower doses reduced gastroparesis symptoms and improved appetite (Sanger & Furness, 2016, p. 38). For that reason relamorelin, a ghrelin agonist, could be an option for treating this particular patient with this diagnosis. However, the drug therapy would have to be checked to see if it has any issues…