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Significance of homeostasis in the human body
Significance of homeostasis in the human body
Significance of homeostasis in the human body
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Section one
Homeostasis, which literally means ‘same standing’ from the Greek words for "same" and "steady," refers to any process that living things use to actively maintain fairly stable conditions necessary for survival (Clancy et al., 2011). It is a term introduced by Cannon in 1930 to describe the goal of all the body’s physiological processes. These processes dynamically maintain a relatively constant state called steady-state in the internal environment (CREDO, 2006). The internal environment is the fluid that surrounds cells, which refers to the direct cell survival and material exchange with the environment. The processes maintain the internal environment steady levels of temperature and other vital conditions such as the water, salt, sugar, protein, fat, calcium and oxygen contents of the blood by many systems operating together (Rodolfo, 2013). When the body cannot maintain homeostasis, cells cannot carry out their normal functions, which include considerable adverse effects, such as cellular rupture. Those who are not in Homeostasis are often accompanied by sickness (Silverthorn, 2009 and Kelly, 2004).
Because of the constantly changing environment of the body, adjustments must be made continuously to maintain the internal environment within the set point limit by a variety of homeostatic mechanisms. Therefore, Homeostasis can be considered as synthetic equilibrium, which means constant monitoring to achieve internal balance (Marieb, 2012).
To maintain homeostasis in the body, it requires all the body systems work together, while the nervous and endocrine systems play the most important role. The nervous system reacts quickly to external and internal stimuli, whereas the endocrine system is slower to act but its effe...
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The purpose of a homeostatic system is to maintain steady/stable internal environment at a set point. Glucose is used as a major energy source by most cells in the human body. Cells break down glucose in order to produce ATP (energy), to carry out their cellular processes. Blood glucose concentration is maintained between 3.9-5.6 mmol/L-1. The reason behind this range is due to the fact that people of different ages and genders require different amounts of glucose in their blood to carry out different metabolic processes. For example, a growing teenage boy would require a higher blood glucose concentration in comparison to a middle aged women. Blood glucose concentration must be maintained between this set point range because anything above or below this can cause severe problems. If blood glucose concentration becomes too low the tissues in the body that solely rely on glucose as an energy source are greatly affected, as they need a constant supply of glucose in order to function adequately. These
Marieb, E. N., (2006). Essentials of human anatomy and physiology. San Francisco, CA: Benjamin Cummings.
Today in America thyroid disease is becoming a much larger issue and the worse part of this problem is that many people are not yet diagnosed. This is due to the lack of education and awareness about thyroid disease. There are many different types of diseases but the one that I am passionate about is hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid is when the thyroid is no longer able to produce triiodothyronine, also known as T3 and thyroxine, also referred to as T4. Some of the symptoms include unexpected weight gain, tiredness, depression, or slow movements and thoughts. Most of the time many people notice the way that their bodies act on what they are feeling to their physicians. Many Americans struggle with this disease that
The body tissues are the workers. It is their job to keep the body functioning correctly. When there is a need for more energy the workers send a signal to the administrators (and who is the administrator? The pituitary) to let the thyro...
The causes of hypertension are unknown. However; hypertension can be classified into two categories primary and secondary. Primary (essential) hypertension is increas...
Endocrinology can be defined as the study of the structure and function of the endocrine system (Tortora & Grabowski 1996). The endocrine system is composed cells, known as endocrine cells, which are distributed around the body and produce the chemical messengers known as hormones. Following secretion by endocrine cells, hormones travel in the blood where they affect tissues outside of their tissue of origin - and are therefore a form of cellular communication. In multicellular organisms, such as humans, cellular communication is essential for a number of body processes and the maintenance of homeostasis (Campbell, N.A. et al. 2015). In this essay, I am going to outline some of a number of body
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Homeostasis is the maintenance of a constant internal environment within a living organism. Excretion is the removal from the body of waste products made in the cells during metabolism. Osmoregulation is the homeostatic control of body water. Water intake needs to balance with water loss. Urea is instantly converted from ammonia, as it is a less soluble and less toxic compound.
Homeostasis is used by every organism to be able to survive in a certain environment. This happens because the organism needs to adapt to the certain conditions that the environment is exposing, but if the organism fails to adapt it may can lead to death. The system sends alerts through the nervous, electrical circuits, and hormonal system.
The human body goes through many different reactions and processes that are necessary for humans to live. Chemical reactions by the human body are never seen with the human eye, but it is so vital that these processes are understood. Without this understanding, diseases and disorders can never be resolved or controlled. These processes may be small in size, but have a great deal of impact on the function of the human body.
The human body is a network of muscles, bones, organs and overall, it is constantly working in its own ways to make sure that the body is performs and functions properly. The most important systems in the body, the nervous and endocrine system, both play huge roles in regulating the biological processes inside an organism. They are the basic systems that pretty much control the body, helping it react properly to any external factor. The main difference between these two systems is that the nervous system uses impulses to control the muscles while the endocrine uses chemical stimuli to pass the signal to the target cells or organs. These two systems have their
There are many enzyme-catalyzed reactions that occur in cells through control mechanisms, which keep humans in chemical balance. There are two systems that have a major responsibility for regulating body chemistry known as the endocrine system and nervous system. The endocrine system depends on chemical messengers that flow in the bloodstream known as hormones. Hormones travel to target cells, where they connect with receptors that initiate chemical changes within cells. The nervous system depends on neurotransmitters that are electrical impulses in nerve cells activated by its own chemical messengers. The nervous system counts on a much faster means of circulation. This cycle is what allows drugs to work so well, because they mimic the crucial role of hormones and neurotransmitters in the function of the human body.