homeostasis is functionally wrong??

Intern67 · May 5, 2010

Stop googling. Start thinking.

shortnorthstudent · May 5, 2010

I think you need to look at the question itself a little closer. Try thinking about what the terms mean. What is homeostasis? What maintains the constancy of the internal environment?

samantha0890 · May 5, 2010

hmm..thats a tricky one. Well, we know homeostatis is maintaining a stable internal environment physiologically...such as temperature and blood pH. But what if the internal environment becomes unstable because of a disease...then you are physiologically not stable. for example, if your blood pH starts moving towards acidosis or alkolosis. Or when it comes to temperature...if your body starts straying from the normal 37 C. A fever isn't necessarily bad, but still, it's changing your internal environment, or vice versa if you get too cold. I would love to know the answers to those questions you asked, that one is something you have to really think about!

the_london_sky · May 5, 2010

Maybe your professor wants you to think in terms of postive and negative feedback? Think of some examples of both negative and postive feedback that are widely used.

httamli · May 5, 2010

I honestly am not sure what direction he wants us to take-this is so far off what he normally teaches, discusses, etc.! I'm leaning towards our curent environment having such a strong effect on our bodies with the onslaught of carcinogens, foreign chemicals, horrible diet, lack of exercise, constant stress that we (our bodies) are constantly in one form of a feedback loop or another in so many systems and on so many different levels and then giving specific examples of each. Does this sound like its in the ballpark or am I completely off?

metal_m0nk, BSN, RN · May 5, 2010

Homeostatic mechanisms regulate change with change. That is what is "functionally" wrong with the idea that homeostasis maintains the "constancy" of the internal environment.

Use that idea to answer the other questions.

Cool question, though. Critical thinking question, for certain. I wish I had your professor instead of mine.

httamli · May 5, 2010

Oh, trust me, you do not! This is about as opposite as it comes with his teaching style!!! He lectures on our textbook, assigns readings from it, then uses a different, much higher level text to write our tests-very difficult! So much so that everything he does leaves the other faculty members in an uproar, and the Dean is getting involved now too!

metal_m0nk, BSN, RN · May 5, 2010

Oh, trust me, you do not! This is about as opposite as it comes with his teaching style!!! He lectures on our textbook, assigns readings from it, then uses a different, much higher level text to write our tests-very difficult! So much so that everything he does leaves the other faculty members in an uproar, and the Dean is getting involved now too!

I could be wrong, but judging by the question you presented, I would imagine that he expects his students to really engage in the material, rather than just memorize and parrot. I don't see anything wrong with that.

Michaelxy · May 5, 2010

Seriously, this is an essay question from my A&P class! What is functionally wrong with the idea that homeostasis maintains the constancy of the internal environment? How constant is the internal environment? Is constancy important, or is there another term that better describes what the various regulatory systems achieve?
Okay, I've googled until my fingers bled (okay, not that far) and I can find NOTHING on this side of the topic! Ideas? Insights? HELP!

At first when I read this question, I thought; what a goofy question. After some thought however, I have taken a different outlook. Looking at the word homeostasis and examining the root origins of the word we see that Homeo is Greek for same, Stasis is also Greek and translates into standing still. The combination of these two roots would immediatly hint to something that remains constant or maintains constancy. So first reaction might be to think the question is bogus. If we reflect on this further and continue reading the question, "constancy of the internal environment?" The term environment becomes a clue, as given by definition environment - "The totality of circumstances surrounding an organism" Ah! totality is a key to our argument, albeit a homeostatic mechanism does function to maintain a particular aspect of the internal environment within the body, it is not all encompassing of the whole environment, eg. a homeostatic mechanism only regulates a single parameter within a total environment and regulation of the total inner environment incorporates the multitude of many individual homeostatic mechanisms.

Well, I am not sure if that helps, but that is all I got...:) The remaining portions of the prompt seem to be self explanatory.

Music in My Heart · May 5, 2010

I honestly am not sure what direction he wants us to take...

Well, have you asked him? If not, that's the very first - and very best - place to start.

klhmc729 · May 5, 2010

My A&P instructor did a lot of critical thinking/case studies/applied problems for us, too, and while it kind of sucks to have to spend an entire week stressing over a problem, it really does cement the physiology into your mind much better than just memorizing the textbook info. Plus, in nursing no one is going to ask us to just repeat something we learned in physiology - they are going to expect us to know how to use the information to think critically about a problem.

I'm thinking along the same lines of some of the other posts. When I read the question, my first thought was that there is nothing constant about the internal environment. Homeostasis is a dynamic process, bringing about change in the body to balance and stabilize it, not to keep it completely constant. Your other thought about positive feedback mechanisms is also an interesting thought, and I might say a little something about that as well.