A 52-Year-Old Man Comes to the Office Due to Easy

question 473

Multiple Choice

A 52-year-old man comes to the office due to easy bruisibility and muscle weakness.  Medical history is unremarkable, but the patient has smoked a pack of cigarettes daily for 30 years.  Blood pressure is 160/110 mm Hg, and pulse is 80/min.  BMI is 29 kg/m².  Physical examination shows facial plethora, slight centripetal distribution of body fat, diffuse skin pigmentation, and bilateral peripheral edema.  Fasting blood glucose is 160 mg/dL and creatinine is 1.2 mg/dL.  Chest x-ray reveals a lung mass.  Which of the following is the most likely cause of this patient's elevated blood pressure?

• A)Activation of renal mineralocorticoid receptors
• B)Elevated plasma catecholamine level
• C)Impaired glomerular filtration of sodium and water
• D)Marked urinary loss of albumin
• E)Renal resistance to antidiuretic hormone

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Definitions:

Informational Value

The usefulness or relevance of data or information in decision-making or problem-solving processes.

Classical Conditioning

A habituation method wherein two stimuli are systematically paired together; as a result, a response initially stimulated by the second stimulus is later elicited by the first stimulus on its own.

Conditioned Response

A learned response to a previously neutral stimulus that has become associated with a significant stimulus.

Conditioned Stimulus

An originally neutral signal that, upon being paired with an unconditioned stimulus, ultimately elicits a conditioned response.