Homeostasis, Adaptation, Stress, Health, and Illness

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering fundamental concepts of homeostasis, stress response mechanisms, defense mechanisms, definitions of health and illness, levels of health care, and risk factor classification.

Homeostasis

A relatively stable state of physiologic equilibrium that the body maintains by adjusting and readjusting to changes in the internal and external environment.

Holism

A concept implying that entities in physiologic, psychological, social, and spiritual areas contribute to the whole of a person, determining how whole or well they feel.

Stress

The mental, emotional, or physical response and adaptation to real or perceived changes and challenges, or a condition in which the body responds to changes affecting its normally balanced equilibrium.

Stressors

Internal or external changes—categorized as physiologic, psychological, social, or spiritual—that have the potential to disturb equilibrium.

Adaptation

The response of an organism to change that requires the use of self-protective properties and mechanisms for regulating homeostasis.

Neurotransmitters

Communicators between the synaptic cleft and neurons that mediate homeostatic adaptive responses by coordinating the central nervous system, autonomic nervous system, and endocrine system.

Serotonin

A neurotransmitter that stabilizes mood, induces sleep, and regulates body temperature.

Norepinephrine

A neurotransmitter that heightens arousal and increases energy.

Acetylcholine and Dopamine

Neurotransmitters that promote coordinated bodily movement.

Neuropeptides

Small protein-like molecules used by neurons to communicate with each other.

Autonomic Nervous System

A system composed of peripheral nerves that affect physiologic functions that are largely automatic and beyond voluntary control.

Sympathetic Nervous System

A division of the autonomic nervous system responsible for the fight-or-flight response, accelerating physiological functions to ensure survival through enhanced strength and rapid escape.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

A division of the autonomic nervous system that restores equilibrium after danger by inhibiting physiological stimulation.

Catastrophize

To focus on the potentially negative outcomes that may result from stressors, thereby intensifying the response to stress.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

A three-stage physiological response to stress (alarm, resistance, exhaustion) aimed at returning the body to homeostasis.

Alarm Stage

The immediate physiologic response to a stressor in GAS, characterized by the fight-or-flight reaction and a burst of energy.

Resistance Stage

The second stage of GAS in which the body attempts to resist or adapt to the stressor in order to restore homeostasis.

Exhaustion Stage

The final stage of GAS occurring when energy is depleted, leaving the body susceptible to illness.

Ego Defense Mechanisms

Unconscious coping tactics operating outside conscious awareness that function to defend the psyche, protect self-esteem, prevent excessive anxiety, and preserve self-integration.

Denial

A defense mechanism involving the refusal to acknowledge or accept reality in order to avoid emotional impact.

Rationalization

A defense mechanism used to justify or explain undesirable behaviors to avoid emotional discomfort or save face.

Projection

A defense mechanism involving the attribution of one's own negative or uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, or motives onto someone else.

Repression

A defense mechanism that conceals unpleasant or painful thoughts, memories, or beliefs in hopes of forgetting them entirely.

Regression

A defense mechanism involving movement back to a more comfortable developmental time in life.

Compartmentalization

A defense mechanism characterized by categorizing life experiences into segments to avoid facing anxieties while operating in that mindset.

Therapeutic Coping Strategies

Consciously selected stress reduction activities that help a person acquire insight, gain confidence to confront reality, and develop emotional maturity.

Nontherapeutic Coping Strategies

Unhealthy coping activities such as using mind/mood-altering substances, hostility/aggression, excessive sleep, conflict avoidance, or abandonment of social activities.

Acute Stress Disorder (ASD)

An intense, unpleasant, and dysfunctional reaction beginning shortly after an overwhelming traumatic event and lasting less than a month.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

A psychological diagnosis given when symptoms of an intense traumatic stress reaction persist longer than a month.

Health (WHO Definition)

A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Values

Ideals that a person feels are important.

Beliefs

Concepts that a person holds to be true.

Wellness

The full and balanced integration of physical, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of health.

Physical Health

A component of wellness achieved when body organs function normally.

Emotional Health

A component of wellness resulting when a person feels safe and copes effectively with life's stressors.

Social Health

A component of wellness that is an outcome of feeling accepted and useful.

Spiritual Health

A component of wellness characterized by the belief that one's life has purpose.

Illness

A state of discomfort that results when disease, deterioration, or injury impairs a person's health.

Acute Illness

An illness characterized by sudden onset and a short duration, such as appendicitis.

Chronic Illness

An illness that comes on slowly and lasts a long time, such as diabetes.

Terminal Illness

An illness for which there is no potential for cure, such as AIDS or Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever.

Primary Illness

An illness that develops independently of any other disease.

Secondary Illness

An illness that develops as a result of a pre-existing primary condition.

Remission

The disappearance of signs and symptoms associated with a particular disease, resembling a cured state, though relief may be temporary.

Exacerbation

The periodic reactivation of a disorder in clients with long-standing diseases.

Hereditary Condition

A disease acquired from genetic codes of one or both parents, with symptoms that may or may not be present at birth, such as Sickle Cell Disease.

Congenital Disorders

Disorders present at birth that result from faulty embryonic development, such as Down Syndrome.

Idiopathic Illness

An illness whose cause is unexplained, such as essential hypertension.

Primary Care

Health care services provided by the first health care professional or agency a person contacts, such as a family practice physician, NP, or PA.

Secondary Care

Health care services to which primary caregivers refer clients for consultation and additional specialized testing.

Tertiary Care

Health care services provided at specialized hospital environments or medical centers.

Extended Care

Health care services that meet the needs of clients who no longer require acute hospital care, such as rehabilitation, skilled nursing homes, or hospice.

Medicare

A federal government program that finances health care costs for persons aged 65 years or older, permanently disabled workers of any age and their dependents, and individuals with end-stage renal disease.

Medicare Part A

A component of Medicare that covers acute hospital care, rehabilitation care, hospice, and home health care.

Medicare Part B

An optional Medicare plan purchased for an additional fee that covers physician services, outpatient hospital care, laboratory tests, durable medical equipment, and other selected services.

Medicaid

A state-administered health care program designed to meet the medical needs of low-income residents.

Healthy People Initiatives

National health promotion and disease prevention objectives launched in 1979 and developed every ten years to improve the health of all Americans.

Self-Care

An inclusive group of activities used by individuals to promote their mental health and overall well-being.

Burnout

A progressive loss of idealism, energy, and purpose experienced by people in the helping professions as a result of their working conditions.

Modifiable Risk Factors

Behaviors and exposures that can raise or lower a person's risk for disease and can be altered through corrective measures.

Nonmodifiable Risk Factors

Inherent conditions that increase disease risk and cannot be altered, including genetics, ethnicity/race, age, and family health history.