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Pathophysiology Of Homeostasis

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Homeostasis is the process through which bodily functions and chemicals are kept in a state of balance (stasis), allowing the body to function optimally. The human body has many systems that must be maintained through processes of chemical and biological checks and balances in order to function properly. The rise and fall of glucose levels in the blood is one of the systems that is under the control of homeostatic regulation processes.
The purpose of homeostasis is to maintain a normal balance within the body regarding its temperature, salt concentration, water concentration, and food intake. The human body functions normally with a narrow range of variation for each of these factors. The body has ways of detecting changing levels of these …show more content…

In healthy individuals over 60% of circulating glucose is used by the brain. The concentration of glucose in the blood is maintained between 70 and 100mg per 100cm3 of blood. During prolonged fasting it rarely falls below 50mg and after a very heavy carbohydrate - rich meal it seldom rises above 150mg. Abnormally low blood glucose is called hypoglycaemia. Abnormally high blood glucose level is called hyperglycaemia. The need for glucose is continuous. To regulate the blood glucose concentration, there needs to be a balance between rates at which it enters and leaves the body. There are 2 ways glucose enters the …show more content…

One point where there is a constant risk of losing glucose is in the kidney but normally the kidney will reabsorb glucose that has spilled into the urine. Unfortunately when blood glucose gets above 20mM then it can’t be reabsorbed so the glucose is lost so its better to keep blood glucose low to avoid this loss. We need glucose all the time but we cant eat all the time so we need a system for storing glucose. So what is happening when blood glucose levels fall after a meal is we are storing the glucose so that we can use it later. The main place we store glucose is in the liver and we can store enough to keep us going for 2-3 days. Smaller amounts are taken into muscle ad fat cells stored. This is stimulated by insulin and is the way blood glucose levels are kept low. One of the livers roles is to be a ‘rechargeable glucose

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