Tuesday, April 24, 2012
What is Homeostasis
Ever wondered how our body temperature stabilizes even when the weather and environment outside undergoes a
drastic change. Well this article will answer just that. Read on to know more on what is homeostasis, its importance and
how it is maintained.
Our body is undoubtedly one of the best creations of God. Some mechanisms and processes happening in our body
seem like miracles, but yet so coherent. Many of us might have wondered, as to how our body adjusts its internal
temperature in summers and how it isn't drastically affected in chilly winters. Well, all thanks to the process called
homeostasis due to which our body performs this lifesaving miracle. The following write up will answer the following
questions.



What is homeostasis in biology ?
What is Homeostasis and How is it Maintained ?
Why is Homeostasis Important ?
What is Homeostasis
Homeostasis, in biological terms means that the body is maintaining internal equilibrium to adjust itself internally and
physiologically, in response to the external environmental changes. The main function of homeostasis is to keep all the
processes of the body stable even if there are variations in the weather and environment outside. To maintain
homeostasis means that the body is responding internally to the changes outside by maintaining the proper functioning
of our internal organs. Homeostasis is the reason why, human beings can function efficiently in cold as well as hot
environment. Animals, humans, other mammals and birds, who can maintain the temperature of the internal
environment even though there may be large changes in the environmental temperature are called homeotherms.
Regulation of blood pressure, temperature, blood sugar levels, hormone levels, and enzyme levels are all a part of
homeostatic processes in the human body. Problems with any of these processes can lead to serious health hazards.
The organs which play an important role in maintaining homeostasis are the kidneys, liver and brain. The kidneys are
responsible for controlling blood water level and regulation of salt and ion content in the blood. Whereas, the liver
performs the function of stabilizing carbohydrate metabolism and metabolizing toxic substances. Brain, helps in
controlling the autonomic nervous system and endocrine system, which plays an important role in retaining the
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
homeostasis. Thus they play an important role in regulating the body temperature, iron content in our blood, energy
balance and overall blood composition.
What is Homeostasis and How is it Maintained
Most important aspect of homeostasis is definitely regulation of temperature. Being warm blooded animals, our body is
able to retain a more or less constant body temperature. Examples of homeostasis are sweating when it is hot, shivering
when it is cold. Sweating helps to cool down our body. Whereas, the muscle contractions when we shiver helps to
produce the heat required by our body. The thermoreceptors which are found in the hypothalamus, in both our skin and
in our brain monitor changes in the external temperature and begin to minimize the blood flow to our skin. This is done
due to dilation of arterioles which decreases the activity of our liver. All this leads to loss of heat lost from our body
through radiation, and the sweat glands begin to produce more sweat, the evaporation of our sweat causes a cooling
effect for our bodies.
We all know iron is essential for red blood cells and hemoglobin, deficiency of iron can lead to anemia. But excess
absorption of iron can lead to health hazards. So controlling this potentially toxic substance is very important to
maintain good health. Liver plays an important part in maintaining iron metabolism. Maintaining the glucose levels is
another important aspect of homeostasis. Insulin, which is secreted by the beta cells of the pancreas, transports the
glucose to the body's cells, which lowers the blood glucose levels. The kidneys remove the excess water and ions from
the blood through urine. The kidneys play an important role in homeostatic regulation in mammals by removing excess
water, salt, and urea from the blood. Maintaining the acid content of the blood by regulating the 'pH' of the blood
plasma is another important function of kidneys. Read more on maintaining homeostasis.
Why is Homeostasis Important
In case of homeostatic imbalance health problems like dehydration, hypertension, diabetes, hypoglycemia,
hyperglycemia, etc. may arise. Homeostasis is extremely important for proper functioning of all the human body
systems. When our body is not able to regulate temperature all our body functions will fail to work. Even the enzymes
need a specific constant temperature to work at their optimum level. At higher temperatures the enzymes will stop
working. Eventually, imbalanced homeostasis can even cause death.
Hopefully by now you must have understood, what is homeostasis and why is it important. Proper exercise, a wellbalanced diet, proper sleeping patterns and taking adequate rest also helps to achieve homeostatic balance.
By Gaurav Shimpi
Last Updated: 9/29/2011
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-is-homeostasis.html