Homeostasis 

What is homeostasis?

Homeostasis is the regulation of the internal conditions of a cell or organism to maintain optimum conditions for functions in response to internal and external changes.

Homeostasis maintains optimal conditions for enzyme action and cell functions.

In the human body, these include control of

• blood glucose concentration

• body temperature

• water levels.

These automatic control systems may involve nervous responses or chemical responses.

The automatic control systems in the human body involve the nervous system or hormones.

Examples of all control systems and what they do

• Cells called receptors > detects stimuli (changes in the environment)
• Coordination centres (e.g the brain, spinal cord and pancreas) > which receive and process info from receptors
• Effectors (muscles or glands) > bring about responses which restores optimum levels

Control of body temperature

Our body has automatic control systems in place > this enables our body to maintain its temperature and water at optimum levels > Cells require these levels in order in function properly

If someone does strenuous exercise or is placed in an extreme climate, this will affect homeostasis >

body temperature, blood oxygen levels, hydration and salt levels will be affected > causes a person to feel unwell as their body is trying to cope with the exercise