S6 Intro to Endocrine System Flashcards
What does failure in homeostasis lead to?
Leads to disease
What are the characteristics of a control systems of a control system
- Stimulus
- Receptor - detects the stimuli
- Control centre - receives communication from the afferent pathway
- Effector - receives communication from the efferent pathway - causes change
- Negative feedback back to stimulus
What are some examples of receptor types?
- chemoreceptors
- thermoreceptors
- proprioreceptors
- nociceptors
How does communication via the afferent and efferent pathways occur in homeostasis?
- nervous system - action potentials
* endocrine system - hormones
What does the control centre do?
- determines the normal parameters
- analyses afferent input
- determines response
What are some examples of effectors?
- sweat glands
- muscle
- kidney
What are biological rhythms?
Set points/normal parameters of control centres can vary e.g. the circadian rhythm
The circadian rhythm, the biological clock, is made up of a small group of neurones in the brain called what?
Suprachiasmatic nucleus
What are cues from the environment called in terms fo circadian rhythm?
Zeitgebers
What cues from the environment keep the body on a 24 hour cycle
- light
- temperature
- social interaction
- exercise
- eating/drinking pattern
What hormone and from where are involved in setting biological clock?
Melatonin from the pineal gland
What is negative feedback?
Response in a way to reverse the direction of change (most common)
What is positive feedback?
Response in a way so as to change the variable even more in the direction of the change (rare)
E.g. blood clotting ovulation
What are the loops involved in negative feedback? Use hormone 1, 2 and 3 as examples
- ultrashort loop - the hormone released by the hypothalamus inhibits release of more hormone
- short loop - hormone 1 stimulates the anterior pituitary gland to release hormone 2, hormone 2 can inhibit the hypothalamus releasing more hormone 1
- long loop - hormone 2 stimulates target gland to produce hormone 3 which inhibits either the anterior pituitary releasing hormone 2 or the hypothalamus releasing hormone 1
How much total body water in percentages do males and females have?
Males - 50 to 60%
Females - 45-50%
In an average 70kg man, with 42 litres of total body water, how much of this is intracellular fluid and extracellular fluid (interstitial fluid and blood plasma)?
Intracellular fluid - 28 litres (2/3)
Extracellular fluid - 14 litres (1/3)
* interstitial fluid 11 litres
* blood plasma 3 litres (+ 2 litres of RBCs so 5 litres of blood)
What is the osmotic pressure of blood plasma monitored by?
Osmoreceptors in hypothalamus
What is the difference between osmorlarity and osmolality?
Osmolarity - number of osmoles per litre of solution (volume)
Osmolality - number of osmoles per kg of solution (mass)
What is an osmole?
The amount of substance that dissociates in solution to form one mole of osmotically active particles
(1mM of NaCl is 2 mOsmol/L (1mOsmol from Na+ and one from Cl-)
What is one mole in terms of atoms/molecules/ions
6.02x10(23)
How many moles of a substance does a 1 molar (1M) solution contain in 1 litre?
1 mole
When is serum osmolality useful clinically?
Useful when treating hyponatraemia (low Na+ in blood)
Reference range is 275-295 mOsmol/kg