Homeostasis Essay

1210 Words5 Pages
Explain the concept of homeostasis. Homeostasis literally means ‘same state’. Homeostasis is when your body tries to maintain a constant condition inside your body at all times. All homeostatic mechanisms use negative feedback to maintain a constant value. Negative feedback means that whenever a change occurs in a system, this automatically causes a corrective mechanism to start, which reverses the original change and brings the system back towards the set point. One of the main things the homeostasis maintains is the amount of glucose in the body (Gluco Regulation). Glucose is a sugar needed by cells for respiration. It is important that the concentration of glucose in the blood is maintained at a constant level. Insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas, controls blood sugar levels in the body. It is important to have a stable amount of glucose. If you have too much glucose (excess glucose) your body (pancreas) will increase the amount of insulin that is being made and will activate the enzymes which change glucose to glycogen. The glycogen then gets stored in the liver. Glucose levels should then return to normal. If there isn’t enough glucose the body increases the glycogen secretion and converts the previously stored glycogen to glucose. Levels then should return to normal. Thermo regulation is also maintained by Homeostasis, it is needed to keep your temperature at a normal level. If you was to get too hot, your body would start to sweat and you would find your skin starting to go red. You could eventually get Hyperthermia which could lead to someone collapsing or even dying, it’s more commonly found in the elderly. Hyperthermia can be prevented in many cases through use of air conditioning and ventilation, as well as making sure that vulnerable people drink extra water. When your temperature is too low you could be at risk of getting Hypothermia. When
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