Thermoregulation Flashcards
What is normal body temperature?
Traditionally 37 C or 98.6 F
36.8 C or 98.2 F is now average with a -/+ 1 C difference
When does body temperature peak?
Between 4-6 pm
What is thermoregulation?
The balance between heat production and heat loss to maintain a steady body temperature
What are the four types of heat dissipation?
Radiation
Conduction
Convection
Evaporation
How do we produce heat?
Through metabolism!
What generally does the BMR do?
(Basal metabolic rate) is the metabolic heat needed to compensate for heat loss/gain through skin or respiration
What hormones can increase metabolic rate?
Epinephrine and thyroid hormones
What is DIT?
Dietary induced thermogenesis, result of increased metabolism
How is BMR measured?
Amount of heat given off per unit of time; at rest it depends on proportionality of body surface area
What determines the rate at which the body loses heat?
The surface to volume ratio (Surface/Volume)
- greater surface area ratio implies and increase in heat conduction from body core to the air
What is the effect of evaporation?
Cools the body
What is heat radiation?
Objects exchanging heat with the air; warmer objects loose heat to colder objects
What is conduction?
Direct transfer of heat when objects of different temperatures come into contact
What is convection?
The contact of fluid or air around a surface, facilitating conduction and evaporation
Mathematically explain conduction
(efficiency of heat movement)
J = k(Tc-Tsk)/L
J=conduction; Tc=temp core; Tsk=temp skin
What is the benefit of having low and high conductivity tissues and what are examples of each?
Low conductivity: insulates (ex: muscle and fat)
High conductivity: facilitates convection from core to skin to air (blood and sweat)
How does air convection improve heat conduction?
Convection thins the surface layer of poorly conducting air, improving the conduction of skin to air.
What are the three skin layers?
Epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis
What is circulatory convection?
Constriction/dilation of vessel layers in dermis determine the degree of convection to epidermis
- regulates dry release of conductive, convective, and radiation heat
What vessels regulate blood convection in retention or loss of heat?
A-V (arterio-venous) anastomoses among subpapillary and cutaneous blood vessels
What is the role of A-V anastomoses?
To shunt blood from arterioles to veins
- Dilation: blood shunted away from superficial capillary bed (retaining heat)
- Constriction: blood enters superficial capillaries and slows (permits conductive, convective, and radiation of heat)
What controls the look and color of the skin?
Sympathetic activity
How does circulatory convection respond to a cool environment?
- vasoconstriction and dilation of A-V anastomoses (reduce convection)
- Cooling outer shell (less heat gradient, less heat loss)
- low S/V ratio in inner core and low heat conduction from interior (conserving heat)
How does circulatory convection respond to a warm environment?
- vasodilation and constriction of A-V anastomoses (increase convection)
- warming outer shell (greater thermal gradient b/w skin and air: more heat loss)
How do venae comitantes aid in heat control?
- countercurrent temp. regulation to minimize heat loss
- when cold, heat is transfered from arteries to veins, warming the returning venous blood
How do superficial veins aid in heat control?
- dilate to release excess heat
- constrict with excess cold and shunt blood to venue comitantes via perforating branches
What are the effects of cold on vascular convection?
induces vasoconstriction of arterioles and veins, dilates AV shunts, reducing heat loss thru skin
- stimulates alpha-2 receptors producing vasoconstriction
- stimulates cold receptors to do sympathetic constriction from hypothalamus and brain stem
What is CIVD?
(Cold induced vasodilation)
- 15-30 min cold inhibits vasoconstriction to improve perfusion; persistent cycles of vasodilation and constriction are called the Lewis Hunting Response