Principles of homeostastis Flashcards
What is homeostasis?
Homeostasis is the maintenance of a constant internal environment by physiological control systems.
Why is body temperature being too high or too low bad?
Too low = not enough kinetic energy for enzyme-substrate complexes to form.
Too high = too much kinetic energy causing enzymes to denature.
Why is deviations from an optimal pH bad?
Too high or too low a pH can denature an enzyme as it will interfere with the charges in the amino acids in the active site. This breaks the bond changing the active site. Therefore pHs away from the optimum slows enzyme action.
Why is blood glucose concentration being too high or too low bad?
Too low = cell death as glucose is needed for respiration to produce ATP for metabolic processes.
Too high = water potential of blood will be extremely low so it is hypertonic to the cells. Therefore water leaves cells by osmosis.
What is negative feedback?
Negative feedback restores systems back to their normal level when there is a change.
What is positive feedback?
Deviation from the normal stimulates change that results in an even bigger deviation from the normal.
