Homeostasis Flashcards
What is homoeostasis?
The functions of your body which try to maintain a constant internal environment
What must be kept constant in your body?
Ion content
Water content
Sugar content
Temperature
How is ion content regulated?
By the kidneys
How are ions taken into the body?
Food
What happens when the ions enter the body?
They are absorbed by the blood
What happens if the food contains too much of any kind of ion?
The excess ions need to be removed
How can ions be lost?
Sweat
What organ will remove the excess ions from the blood?
The kidneys by urine
How is water lost from the body?
Skin - Sweat
Lungs - Breath
Kidneys - Urine
How is water taken into the body?
Food and drink
What happens on a cold day involving sweat?
Do not sweat as much
Produce more urine
What happens on a hot day involving sweat?
Sweat more
Produce less urine
Urine will be more concentrated
What temperature do enzymes work best in your body?
37 degrees Celsius
How is your body temperature controlled by the brain?
A part of the brain acts as your own personal thermostat
It is sensitive to the blood temperature in the brain
It receives messages from the skin to provide information about skin temperature
What happens if you eat food containing carbohydrates?
Glucose goes into the blood from the gut
How is glucose removed from the blood?
The normal metabolism of cells removes it
What happens if you do a lot of exercise?
More glucose is removed from the blood
What does insulin do?
Helps to maintain the right level of glucose in your blood
This is so your cells get a constant supply of energy
What is HDL?
It takes cholesterol back to the liver to go get broken down
What is LDL?
Tries to take cholesterol back to the liver however drops it as it could not make it
Temperature?
When hypothalamus senses that the body temperature is too high it causes the body to sweat
It then causes vasodilation where the veins widen
When the hypothalamus senses that the body temperature is too low it causes the hairs to stand up and the body shivers
This is vasoconstriction
Blood sugar?
Blood goes up by eating Pancreas detects it Releases insulin Blood sugar goes to liver and muscle Stored as glycogen Blood sugar goes down Pancreas detects it Creating glucagon Breaks glycogen back into glucose
Water and ions?
Hypothalamus detects low water Pituitary gland makes ADH More ADH more water absorbed Level goes up If it goes up too much hypothalamus detects it Less ADH made Less water reabsorbed More water lost in urine
