7. Homeostasis of body temperature and body fluids Flashcards
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What is the normal human body temperature?
36.8C
What is thermoregulation?
The precise balance between heat production and heat loss
Why is heat important in homeostasis?
Because the chemical reactions occuring in the cells are heat sensitive, and cells function in a stable manner at around 37C
Is body temperature generally higher or lower than outside temperature?
Under most conditions it is higher than the surrounding environmental temperature, and the heat produced from metabolic activity helps maintain this
Why does excess heat need to be removed when exercising?
Increased body temperature can cause nerve malfunction, change in proteins and death
Why might there be variation in body temperature?
Variation may result from illness, physical activity, changes in external temperature
Body goes through daily cycle, temperature is lowest in the morning and highest at night
women have higher temperatures during the second half of the menstrual cycle due to progesterone
What is released during cellular respiration?
Energy in carbohydrates, lipids and protein that are carried in chemical bonds
What is energy used for from cellular respiration?
Energy is used for muscle contraction, active transport, or building new complex molecules but most is released in heat
What is the metabolic rate?
The rate at which energy is released by the breakdown of food
How can exercise influence the metabolic rate?
It can increase it by up to 40x
How does stress change the metabolic rate?
It increases due to the activities of the autonomic nervous system
What do sympathetic nerves release?
Noradrenaline which increases metabolic rate. Strong sympathetic stimulation may cause dramatic increases in metabolic rate but only for a few minutes
How does the rate of biomechanical reactions change for every 1 degree rise in temperature?
For every 1C rise, the rate of biomechanical reactions increase by 10%
High fevers can double the metabolic rate
Where are peripheral thermoreceptors located?
Located in the skin and in some mucous membranes
Where are central thermoreceptors located?
Located in the hypothalamus
What do peripheral thermoreceptors do?
They provide the hypothalamus with information about the external environment
When are cold peripheral thermoreceptors stimulated?
They are stimulated by environmental temperatures that are lower than normal
What happens after the hypothalamus has received the message from cold thermoreceptors?
It initiates heat conservation and heat production mechanisms
What do heat peripheral thermoreceptors do?
They detect temperatures higher than normal
Where are central thermoreceptors found?
They are located in the hypothalamus and various internal locations (spinal cord, abdominal organs)
What do central thermoreceptors do?
They are all connected to the hypothalamus and control the core body temperature
How is heat lost from the skin?
Through conduction, convection, radiation and evaporation
What nerves control the diameter of blood vessels to the skin?
Autonomic nerves
How can increasing/decreasing the rate of blood flow change the rate of heat loss?
If the body needs to cool down, more blood will be pumped around the body and if the body needs to heat up, less blood will be pumped around the body
What is sweating?
The active secretion of fluid by the sweat glands, and the periodic contraction of cells surrounding the ducts to pump the sweat to the skin surface
When does sweating occur?
Sweating occurs when large amounts of heat must be lost and skin and blood vessels are already at maximum dilation
How is sweat produced and transported?
Sweat is produced and transported to the skins surface by sympathetic nerves
What is sweat made up of?
Water containing dissolved substances, primarily sodium chloride, along with urea, lactic acid and potassium ions
How does sweating have a cooling effect?
The evaporation of sweat has a cooling effect as heat is removed from the skin when liquid sweat changes into vapour
How does water leave a body?
By sweating, water evaporates from the lungs and respiratory passages, which accounts for a large portion of the daily heat loss from the body
What is vasoconstriction?
A physiological response to a decrease in temperature
What occurs in vasoconstriction?
Impulses stimulate sympathetic nerves that cause blood vessels in the skin to contract
How does vasoconstriction reduce heat loss?
By reducing the flow of warm blood to the skin from internal organs, decreasing the transfer of heat from the internal body organs to the skin
What is the Adrenal Medullas role in maintaining body temperature in conditions of rapid heat loss?
It is stimulated by sympathetic nerves, directed by the hypothalamus
Results in the medulla secreting adrenaline and noradrenaline, hormones that increase cellular metabolism, increasing heat production
How does shivering increase the production of heat?
The hypothalamus stimulates part of the brain to increase skeletal muscle tone
Leads to oscillating, rhythmic tremors occurring at a rate of around 10-20 per second
Can increase body temperature in minutes and all energy released goes to internal heat
How can someone suppress shivering?
Conscious input from the cerebral cortex can suppress the urge to shiver