Homeostasis essay

[Gamewizard]

Hi,

 

I basically have been given this essay title, 'Human physiology is dominated by homeostasis'. using a range of named examples discuss this statement.

 

I was just wondering what type of things i can include in this as its quite a wide topic.

 

I will include general stuff about homeostasis, and have mentioned fight or flight response of the nervous system, and some examples of endocrine system.

 

 

Any ideas let me know

 

thanks

[ewmon]

You should really google homeostasis to find examples that are interesting to you.

 

Regarding the fight or flight response, I usually think of homeostasis as the regulation of an internal bodily factor, so I don't see what fight-or-flight "regulates". Also, reactions by some animals to threats include freeze, feign and faint (in keeping with using f-words).

 

Blood concentrations. Because the body uses blood as a medium to distribute many nutrients, hormones, etc, the blood concentrations of various substances involve homeostasis, including blood calcium concentration and blood sugar concentration.

 

The obvious stuff can be fun to study and report.

 

Skin tanning. The body darkens/lightens the skin in response to sensing excessive/insufficient ultraviolet rays, which are helpful in producing vitamin D but can cause cancer when excessive.

 

Temperature. We sweat when hot and shiver when cold to maintain body temperature within a particular range.

 

Vision. The sphincter muscle in the eye regulates the amount of light received by the retina by adjusting the size of the "pupil" (the pupil is actually the darkness inside the eye seen through the lens) by constricting it in bright light and dilating it in dim light.

 

Researchers have measured this reflex time by shining a laser into the eye at the edge of the pupil. The eye senses the brightness and constricts the pupil, which blocks the laser. The eye then senses less light and dilates the pupil, which returns the eye to its initial state with the laser shining into it, and the cycle starts again. Using a laser in this way causes the pupil to oscillate (ie, flutter). Try googling: pupil laser dilation edge oscillate.

[jimmydasaint]

A couple of useful animations may help, as well as the mnemonic: When Shall I Close The Umbrella

 

I'll give you a clue, the 'U' in 'Umbrella' stands for urea.

Homeostasis

Temperature