The story describes the symptoms and processes in the body of a man who suffered a heart attack. Joseph, 38 years male, has a family history of heart disease, hypertension, and a poor diet, all of which were risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Moreover, he was smoking at the time he had a heart attack. All the mentioned risk factors could have been potential reasons for the heart attack.
A heart attack directly impacts the cellular processes in the organism. One of its primary functions is producing ATP, the energy needed for cells to operate correctly (Walker et al., 2022). Without ATP and oxygen, the cellular processes can be broken off. Hence, damage to the cellular structure can cause death in the brain cells. If the heart’s blood and oxygen supply are cut off, the cardiac muscle cells begin to suffer damage.
When Joseph had a heart attack, he was given chest compressions. However, as his heart stopped, the cells in his body started to die. ATP was the form of protein in his cardiac cells’ membrane that was engaged in homeostatic imbalance. The lack of ATP blocked the calcium from moving from the cytosol into the endoplasmic reticulum of the heart cells. Then, an increased level of intracellular calcium led to the damage of proteases, attacking the cytoskeleton. As a result, lysosomal enzymes started breaking down the plasma membranes.
Joseph was lucky that his heart was restarted by the electrical jolt by the defibrillator, and the oxygen flow was provided by the CPR. As doctors then said, his heart was damaged as a result of a heart attack, but his body is still able to cure itself if proper rehabilitation is provided by giving enough oxygen to blood cells. In other words, Joseph’s body will require DNA replication and the growth and reproduction of his cells will take place in the cytosol.
Reference
Walker, J., Skou, J. C., & Boyer, P. D. (Ed.). (2022). Adenosine triphosphate. In Encyclopedia Britannica. Web.