Homeostasis: A Case Study

In 1865 French physiologist, Claude Bernard, defined homeostasis as the control of internal conditions within living organisms, for example temperature. The external environment can change at any time therefore the human body must uphold a constant internal environment for cells, organs and tissues to continue to operate (Hall, 2010).

The homeostatic regulation is the changing physiological systems inside the body (Tortora, 2009).
Figure 1 below shows the three mechanisms of homeostatic regulation are the receptor, the control center and the effector (Martini, 2007). The receptor detects that something is changing in the environment, the control center receives and processes information from the receptor and the effector produces a response
1981). The heart and brain are most delicate to cold; therefore the electrical action in these organs slows down in response to the cold. Moreover, as the body temperature lowers, organs start to fall flat and clinical intervention is required.

There are some humans that are more prone to developing hypothermia, for example, if the person were underweight; they would have a lack of tissue mass.
Those undergoing surgery and having a merged general and spinal anesthesia are also at greater risk of developing hypothermia (Welch, 2002).
Other causes of hypothermia include metabolic issues that are connected to a diminished basal metabolic rate. This can be identified with dysfunction of the thyroid, pituitary glands or adrenal (Dimopoulou et al. 2014).

The mechanisms for warmth creation and warmth preservation are activated when the human body naturally responds to cold, for example, through shivering of constriction of blood vessels in the skin and expanded metabolic action to produce energy (Hatfield 1996 and Marieb,
In more moderate hypothermia cases, some symptoms incorporate; uncontrollable shivering, confusion, loss of motor skills, moderate breathing rate, cognitive troubles and sleepiness (Tipton and Mike 2014).
Furthermore, in extremely severe cases of hypothermia, symptoms incorporate; unconsciousness, dilated pupils and frail heartbeat, cardio-respiratory arrest, very moderate breathing rate, loss of gross motor abilities and discontinuance of shivering. Cyanosis might likewise be unmistakable in view of the absence of blood to the layers of the skin.

The treatments available vary in accordance to the degree of hypothermia. They range from noninvasive, passive external warming, to active external warming and active core rewarming which requires clinical intervention (McCullough et al. 2004).
Passive external warming is when an individual generate warmth from insulated dry clothing or going to a warm environment (Havenithet al. 2008). Active external warming comprises of applying hot water bottles in both armpits or by going in to a tub with hot water of approximately 44 degrees Celsius, and place both arms and legs outside of the