Our body has many adaptive mechanisms and responses in order to maintain the balance and equilibrium in our system. Through homeostasis, human beings are able to regulate its internal condition so as to stabilize its functioning. Our body has a dynamic process that enables optimum maintenance for cells in spite of changes that are taking place both internally or externally (Bass,2017). Whenever an imbalance occurs, regulatory systems become active to restore optimum conditions usually by a process known as negative feedback, in which a deviation from normal level is detected. It is a state that one’s body is trying to achieve a perfect middle area, where there is not too much or too little of anything and the body is able to perform all of its functions perfectly. In negative feedback, the system responds to reverse the direction of change. As this tends to keep things constant and allows the maintenance of homeostasis.
Hormones, are chemicals that also impacts on the homeostasis, such as regulating blood sugar, menstrual cycle and sexual development (Aalbers, Vogelmeier, ; Kuna, 2016). The respiratory system provides an example of homeostatic regulation by the nervous system. The respiratory system helps maintain homeostasis by regulating the intake of air into the body and by removing carbon dioxide from the blood, which in turn assists the circulatory system’s function and many other operations in the body.
In normal breathing there is a state of homeostasis. During exercise the respiratory system must work faster to keep the oxygen in the extracellular fluid and in the cells within normal limits, preventing excessive build-up of carbon dioxide and disturbance to the blood pH through the accumulation of acid (Bass,2017). In asthma, the homeostasis of the smooth muscle in the lungs is interrupted when someone is exposed to irritants such as dust or tobacco smoke or allergens such as pollen, and symptoms can occur. Asthma is an example that homeostasis is going wrong and the body acts out of proportion to a stimuli, starting a process that leads to symptoms.
Homeostasis can only be achieved if there is an overall equilibrium of the body’s internal organs and functions, thus without proper balance, it can lead to a number of issues in the human body, including death, depending on the severity of the imbalance.
