iHealthyFitness

Homeostasis

Homeostasis, in human physiology, includes the variety of internal processes that seek to maintain balance in the body.  The body’s systems constantly monitor conditions throughout the body, including temperature and the amount of particular hormones and chemicals in the blood stream.  Based on the status of these numerous signals, the body will respond accordingly and make adjustments in order to keep everything stable.

Positive Feedback

A positive feedback response is one that magnify a particular change in our bodies.

An allergic reaction to dust or pollen may cause the massive release of the histamine protein, which often causes an inflammation of the cells.  This inflammation of the cells may trigger other bodily systems to take a positive feedback reaction by increasing the internal temperature of the body, thus intensifying the inflammation.

Negative Feedback

In maintaining balance of internal systems in our bodies, a negative feedback response is one that seeks to counteract the course of a change.

Suppose your body temperature is heating up from exercise, your brain will process this temperature change and signal the sweat glands in your skin to start sweating in order to cool you down.  This response is considered a negative feedback, because the reaction of your body was one in which the temperature increase is reversed.