HOMEOSTASIS
Homeostasis Diagram
What is homeostasis?
Homeostasis is the process which the body is able to maintain a
state of stable physiological balance or basically maintain equilibrium. If we didn’t have homeostasis in our bodies, we would not be able to survive!
Stimulus-A change occurs in the internal or external environment
that disturbs homeostasis. (Heat, cold, noise, pressure, lack of oxygen are external stimulus. Internal stimulus includes changes in blood pressure, pH balance, salt concentration, high or low blood sugar.)
Receptors-A sensor that monitors the environment and responds to
the stimulus by sending information to the control centre. The flow of the
information occurs along the afferent pathway.
Control Centre-determines a set point and is where a variable is
to be maintained. A set point is the level or range. Information travels from
the control centre to the effector along efferent pathway.
Effector-provides means for the control centres response to the
stimulus. The results of the response feed back to influence the stimulus.
Feedback-it can either be positive or negative. Negative feedback depresses the stimulus so that the whole control mechanism is shut
off. Most of the body’s homeostatic mechanism are negative feedback systems.
Negative feedback returns the body from being outside the steady state (too
high, too low) back to the steady state. Positive feedback enhances the
stimulus so that the reaction continues at an even faster rate. Feedback is
positive as change occurs in the same direction as original stimulus and causes
variable to deviate further from original range and usually controls infrequent
events.
Communication between the receptor, control centre and effector
is essential for normal operation of the system.
Homeostatic Imbalance-most disease is seen to be the result of
homeostatic disturbances. The internal environment becomes less stable as we
age, therefore there is greater risk for illnesses in the aged
people.
Homeostasis is the process which the body is able to maintain a
state of stable physiological balance or basically maintain equilibrium. If we didn’t have homeostasis in our bodies, we would not be able to survive!
Stimulus-A change occurs in the internal or external environment
that disturbs homeostasis. (Heat, cold, noise, pressure, lack of oxygen are external stimulus. Internal stimulus includes changes in blood pressure, pH balance, salt concentration, high or low blood sugar.)
Receptors-A sensor that monitors the environment and responds to
the stimulus by sending information to the control centre. The flow of the
information occurs along the afferent pathway.
Control Centre-determines a set point and is where a variable is
to be maintained. A set point is the level or range. Information travels from
the control centre to the effector along efferent pathway.
Effector-provides means for the control centres response to the
stimulus. The results of the response feed back to influence the stimulus.
Feedback-it can either be positive or negative. Negative feedback depresses the stimulus so that the whole control mechanism is shut
off. Most of the body’s homeostatic mechanism are negative feedback systems.
Negative feedback returns the body from being outside the steady state (too
high, too low) back to the steady state. Positive feedback enhances the
stimulus so that the reaction continues at an even faster rate. Feedback is
positive as change occurs in the same direction as original stimulus and causes
variable to deviate further from original range and usually controls infrequent
events.
Communication between the receptor, control centre and effector
is essential for normal operation of the system.
Homeostatic Imbalance-most disease is seen to be the result of
homeostatic disturbances. The internal environment becomes less stable as we
age, therefore there is greater risk for illnesses in the aged
people.
THE MUSCULAR SYSTEM
What is the muscular system?
The muscular system is part of our body that helps us to move
around and to function correctly.
There are 3 types of muscles in the human body:
· Cardiac
Muscle-involuntary, found only in the heart.
· Skeletal
Muscle-voluntary, found throughout the whole
body.
· Smooth
Muscle-involuntary, found in internal organs.
Why is the muscular system important?
Firstly without muscles, we cannot move, we cannot function, and we wouldn’t be alive!!
The human body consists of around 650 muscles and all these muscles have varied
roles. Some roles of muscles are movement, heat generation, food digestion and
breathing and blood circulation. We need the skeletal muscle mainly for
movement. The skeletal muscle is attached to bones by tendons. The skeletal
muscle also helps to generate heat in the human body. Smooth muscle is the
internal organs such as the stomach. So think of the digestive system digesting
food and excreting it, that is the smooth muscles functions, well for the
digestive side at least! Now cardiac muscle. Cardiac muscle is found only in
the heart and its function in the muscular system is to pump blood and oxygen
to the cells of the body and the blood moving around the body also removes carbon dioxide from the cells of the body and its contracting is from homeostasis which is what
keeps us alive.
The muscular system is part of our body that helps us to move
around and to function correctly.
There are 3 types of muscles in the human body:
· Cardiac
Muscle-involuntary, found only in the heart.
· Skeletal
Muscle-voluntary, found throughout the whole
body.
· Smooth
Muscle-involuntary, found in internal organs.
Why is the muscular system important?
Firstly without muscles, we cannot move, we cannot function, and we wouldn’t be alive!!
The human body consists of around 650 muscles and all these muscles have varied
roles. Some roles of muscles are movement, heat generation, food digestion and
breathing and blood circulation. We need the skeletal muscle mainly for
movement. The skeletal muscle is attached to bones by tendons. The skeletal
muscle also helps to generate heat in the human body. Smooth muscle is the
internal organs such as the stomach. So think of the digestive system digesting
food and excreting it, that is the smooth muscles functions, well for the
digestive side at least! Now cardiac muscle. Cardiac muscle is found only in
the heart and its function in the muscular system is to pump blood and oxygen
to the cells of the body and the blood moving around the body also removes carbon dioxide from the cells of the body and its contracting is from homeostasis which is what
keeps us alive.
The role of Homeostasis in the muscular system
How does homeostasis play a role in the muscular system?
The muscular system maintains homeostasis by a number of different ways. An easy example to explain homeostasis of the skeletal muscle is when you are cold, you start to shiver. Your muscles generate heat. Because the muscles generate heat, this ceases the shivering when they provide heat. This is homeostasis in the skeletal muscles. Your body must maintain the average temperature (37°) and when your body shivers it is because your body has dropped
below that temperature. For your body to get back up to that temperature it uses
homeostasis of the skeletal muscles by generating heat to warm you up.
Essentially, if our body could not do this, we would freeze to death. The
opposite of this is when your body has too much heat, you begin to sweat, and
this sweat cools the body down back to 37° therefore maintaining homeostasis and
balancing out the body’s temperature.
Smooth muscles are your internal organs. These muscles, unlike skeletal muscle are involuntary meaning that they undergo all their functions by themselves under not conscious control without us telling
our brain to do so. Homeostasis is maintained in smooth muscles by them
functioning doing their job internally for us. If we weren’t digesting and if we
weren’t getting our food pushed down then how would we survive? Thanks to the
smooth muscles all our internal organs function for our body to maintain its
equilibrium.
Homeostasis in cardiac muscle is quite an
important one. Without cardiac muscle (the heart) we would not be able to
survive at all! Homeostasis has numerous roles within the heart, heart rate and
even the delivery of blood and oxygen from the heart to the rest of the muscles
in the body. The heart rate goes up during exercise, to stabilize itself the
heart needs to rest so when exercise is stopped the heart rate decreases,
balancing the heart rate out.
The heart, with each contraction pumps blood
and oxygen to supply all the other muscles with so they can function and work
properly. Without the blood and oxygen delivery, the muscles would fail. This
also removes the carbon dioxide from the muscle cells while the blood and oxygen
get delivered to them via the blood. So theoretically, if the cells could get
oxygen on their own without the need of blood, we wouldn’t need a heart!
Homeostasis all relates to the nervous
system. The nervous system sends and receives messages to make homeostasis
possible. The nervous system is made up of the brain, neurons and the spinal
cord. Now back to how this relates to homeostasis and the muscular system! The
heart simply cannot function without the connection of it to the brain. The
brain is what helps the heart to provide, produce and maintain homeostasis.
There is 5 parts in the brain, but I will just mention the 1 part that controls
the heart and its beating. It is called the medulla. Basically the medulla sends
and receives messages in the form of chemicals or hormones from the nerves in
the body. These messages go to a part of the medulla called the medullary
pyramids. The medulla is always receiving these messages from the nerves which
are communication pathways to and from muscles, organs and some other parts of
your body.
When you exercise the medulla receives a
message from your working muscles in that exercise (skeletal and cardiac). The
medulla then releases two chemicals called epinephrine and norepinephrine. These
chemicals travel along the nervous system to the hearts sinus node. The sinus
node is what makes the heart contract. Homeostasis is maintained by travelling
along the nervous system to do this. When you stop the exercise, a new chemical
called acetylcholine is sent from the medulla to the heart and other muscles
after the medulla receives the message from the muscles that exercise has been
stopped. This new chemical slows the heart rate, providing slower contraction to
the ones during exercise, maintaining the equilibrium.
Homeostatic functions of the muscular system
include: ensuring vital functions such as nutrition (through body movement),
smooth muscle maintains blood pressure and cardiac muscle circulates
bloods.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, without homeostasis the body
would simply fail, it would not survive it would be useless. We need the
balanced internal and external environment of homeostasis as it is as necessary
as breathing!!! Just think of it this way, without homeostasis how would your
food digest? How would your body move? How would you circulate blood? How would
your heart actually beat? Without homeostasis, we the human race would cease to
exist. Not only do muscles in the body need homeostasis but it is our entire
body that requires the balanced internal and external environment of
homeostasis.
In conclusion, without homeostasis the body
would simply fail, it would not survive it would be useless. We need the
balanced internal and external environment of homeostasis as it is as necessary
as breathing!!! Just think of it this way, without homeostasis how would your
food digest? How would your body move? How would you circulate blood? How would
your heart actually beat? Without homeostasis, we the human race would cease to
exist. Not only do muscles in the body need homeostasis but it is our entire
body that requires the balanced internal and external environment of
homeostasis.