Various chronic diseases and disorders can affect our immune, gastrointestinal, and urinary systems, as described in Chapters 14, 15 and 16 of your course text.  In your initial post:

• Briefly describe the normal function of these three      systems and associated organs. 
• Choose and briefly describe one chronic disease or      disorder for each of the three systems and explain how the      diseases/disorders alter the normal function.
• Examine potential causes for the disease or disorder      and list signs and symptoms that indicate the disease has developed.
• Analyze actions people can take to reduce their risk of      developing the chronic disease or disorder.  Briefly explain how      these actions would impact the environment.

Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length.  Use medical terminology, your course text, and at least one additional scholarly resource to support your points. All sources must be referenced and cited according to APA guidelines as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center .  

Guided Response:  A comorbidity is a co-existing or additional disease to the original disease examined.  According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., comorbidities are “interactions between the illnesses that affect the course and prognosis of both” (2010, para. 1).  Read several of your classmates’ posts and respond to at least two of your peers. Each response will address comorbidities associated with the disease chosen by your classmate. List signs and symptoms associated with the comorbidity.  List factors that contribute to the comorbidity’s development as well as steps the person can take to avoid the development of the problem. Each peer response should be at least 100 words in length and should be supported by one scholarly source.