Homeostasis: A Brief Description
Homeostasis
The ability of the body to maintain physiological parameters necessary for the preservation of life within a narrow range is referred to as homeostasis. In health, to a certain extent, the body can cope with this alteration and can constantly regulate the physiological changes in response to fluctuations in the external environment. For example, the maintenance of normal partial oxygen and carbon dioxide pressure, the right concentration of nutrients and waste products, the normal osmotic pressure, the normal body temperature and the maintenance of fluid and electrolyte balance. However, the body's ability to cope with this alteration can be compromised during a critical illness as their comorbidity and prolonged and recurrent stress on the body can cause homeostasis failure.
Understanding the pathophysiological changes that occur in critical illness and its effect on homeostasis process will help the critical care practitioner to provide effective treatment. Systematic approach to patient assessment thereby recognising homeostatic failure as early as possible helps to initiate appropriate intervention in a timely manner to restore near normal state minimising further damage to the various body systems.
Homeostasis process integrates identifying the changes in the internal or external environment, and balances the changes back to a steady stage by responding to a negative feed back mechanism. The responses to negative feedback mechanisms in critical illness can be limited due to control systems exhaustion resulting from the prolonged effect of physiological response to stress. Therefore, external intervention is critical to correct these changes in disease.
When internal or external stressors threaten the organ, the body goes through changes or modulations of the stress response to achieve homeostasis, this process is termed allostasis (Sterling and Eyer 1988). Once the homeostasis has been re-achieved the allostasis systems will
The ability of the body to maintain physiological parameters necessary for the preservation of life within a narrow range is referred to as homeostasis. In health, to a certain extent, the body can cope with this alteration and can constantly regulate the physiological changes in response to fluctuations in the external environment. For example, the maintenance of normal partial oxygen and carbon dioxide pressure, the right concentration of nutrients and waste products, the normal osmotic pressure, the normal body temperature and the maintenance of fluid and electrolyte balance. However, the body's ability to cope with this alteration can be compromised during a critical illness as their comorbidity and prolonged and recurrent stress on the body can cause homeostasis failure.
Understanding the pathophysiological changes that occur in critical illness and its effect on homeostasis process will help the critical care practitioner to provide effective treatment. Systematic approach to patient assessment thereby recognising homeostatic failure as early as possible helps to initiate appropriate intervention in a timely manner to restore near normal state minimising further damage to the various body systems.
Homeostasis process integrates identifying the changes in the internal or external environment, and balances the changes back to a steady stage by responding to a negative feed back mechanism. The responses to negative feedback mechanisms in critical illness can be limited due to control systems exhaustion resulting from the prolonged effect of physiological response to stress. Therefore, external intervention is critical to correct these changes in disease.
When internal or external stressors threaten the organ, the body goes through changes or modulations of the stress response to achieve homeostasis, this process is termed allostasis (Sterling and Eyer 1988). Once the homeostasis has been re-achieved the allostasis systems will