Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsMeaningHow It WorksExamplesSignificance
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Meaning
How It Works
Examples
Significance
This article defines the meaning of homeostasis, describes how the concept originated, explains how these physiological processes work vianegative feedback loops, and details why maintaining a “milieu intérieur” (constant internal environment) is essential for all living things.
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Homeostasis is a term derived from the Greek words “homeo” (meaning similar to) and “stasis” (meaning standing still). In the 1920s, an American physiologist named Walter B. Cannon invented the word “homeostasis.”
Cannon described homeostasis as “coordinated physiological processes” that maintain “steady states” in a living organism. He clarified that the word doesn’t imply something set in stone or stagnant but instead describes an automated, self-regulating process that varies but is “relatively constant.”
“Homeostasis” and “milieu intérieur” are similar terms that highlight the importance of living organisms having internal mechanisms that can maintain inner balance and “relatively constant” stability. Even if the external environment changes rapidly, homeostasis makes it possible for the body to keep its internal environment steady via dynamic equilibrium reactions.
Body Temperature Exemplifies HomeostasisThe body’s ability to maintain a constant internal temperature of 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees C) is a perfect example of homeostasis. When the external environment is hot, the body sweats to cool itself down and maintain a steady internal temperature. When it’s cold outside, the body shivers to stay warm.
Body Temperature Exemplifies Homeostasis
The body’s ability to maintain a constant internal temperature of 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees C) is a perfect example of homeostasis. When the external environment is hot, the body sweats to cool itself down and maintain a steady internal temperature. When it’s cold outside, the body shivers to stay warm.
Homeostasis typically involves negative feedback loops. Within these loops, negative stimuli automatically trigger mechanisms to help homeostasis’s dynamic equilibrium process. “Dynamic equilibrium” describes the process and reactions that occur as the body makes adjustments in response to negative feedback warnings of imbalance.
Homeostasis’s ultimate goal is to help the body maintain a constant and relatively stable internal environment whenever possible. For example, being in hot weather triggers cooling mechanisms, such as sweat, that keep the body’s core temperature around 98.6 degrees F.
When someone is in a cold environment, this negative stimulus activates homeostatic mechanisms designed to hold onto the body’s heat, like shivering, in an attempt to maintain body temperature.
The human body has a phenomenal ability to maintain internal balance in response to disruptive outside forces and different types of internal or external negative stimuli.
Examples of Homeostasis
Several types of homeostatic regulation maintain homeostasis in healthy human bodies, including:
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of homeostasis. Every living thing relies on homeostatic processes for its survival. When homeostasis fails to function properly, internal imbalances can lead to sickness and even death.
For example, when the body can’t maintain blood sugar homeostasis due to low production of insulin or poor response to insulin, diabetes results.The inability to maintain potassium homeostasis can affect the heart’s rhythm and nervous system activity, which can lead to death.
George E. Billman, a U.S. physiologist, describes homeostasis as “the central organizing principle upon which the discipline of physiology is built.”
Summary
Centuries ago, Claude Bernard identified the importance of living organisms having the ability to maintain a stable inner environment, which he called milieu intérieur, meaning constant internal environment. In the early 20th century, Walter B. Cannon built on Bernard’s concept of milieu intérieur and coined the term “homeostasis,” which combines the Greek words"homeo" (similar to) and “stasis” (standing still).
Every living thing relies on homeostasis for its real-time and long-term survival. It helps organisms regulate themselves in response to changes in their environment. Even something as simple as sweating on a hot day is key to maintaining this balance and staying healthy.
12 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Journal of Medical Physiology and Therapeutics.Role of homeostasis in human physiology: a review.Davies KJA.Adaptive homeostasis.Molecular Aspects of Medicine. 2016;49:1-7. doi:10.1016/j.mam.2016.04.007Cannon WB.The Wisdom of the Body.W.W. Norton & Company Inc; New York: 1932.Hoenig MP, Zeidel ML.Homeostasis, the milieu intérieur, and the wisdom of the nephron.CJASN. 2014;9(7):1272-1281. doi:10.2215/CJN.08860813Prabhakar NR, Semenza GL.Oxygen sensing and homeostasis.Physiology. 2015;30(5):340-348. doi:10.1152/physiol.00022.2015Röder PV, Wu B, Liu Y, Han W.Pancreatic regulation of glucose homeostasis.Exp Mol Med. 2016;48(3):e219-e219. doi:10.1038/emm.2016.6Armstrong M, Kerndt CC, Moore RA.Physiology, baroreceptors. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Yu E, Sharma S.Physiology, calcium. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Simon LV, Farrell MW.Hyperkalemia. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.What is diabetes?Udensi UK, Tchounwou PB.Potassium homeostasis, oxidative stress, and human disease.Int J Clin Exp Physiol. 2017;4(3):111–122. doi:10.4103/ijcep.ijcep_43_17Billman GE.Homeostasis: the underappreciated and far too often ignored central organizing principle of physiology.Front Physiol. 2020;11:200. doi:10.3389/fphys.2020.00200
12 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Journal of Medical Physiology and Therapeutics.Role of homeostasis in human physiology: a review.Davies KJA.Adaptive homeostasis.Molecular Aspects of Medicine. 2016;49:1-7. doi:10.1016/j.mam.2016.04.007Cannon WB.The Wisdom of the Body.W.W. Norton & Company Inc; New York: 1932.Hoenig MP, Zeidel ML.Homeostasis, the milieu intérieur, and the wisdom of the nephron.CJASN. 2014;9(7):1272-1281. doi:10.2215/CJN.08860813Prabhakar NR, Semenza GL.Oxygen sensing and homeostasis.Physiology. 2015;30(5):340-348. doi:10.1152/physiol.00022.2015Röder PV, Wu B, Liu Y, Han W.Pancreatic regulation of glucose homeostasis.Exp Mol Med. 2016;48(3):e219-e219. doi:10.1038/emm.2016.6Armstrong M, Kerndt CC, Moore RA.Physiology, baroreceptors. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Yu E, Sharma S.Physiology, calcium. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Simon LV, Farrell MW.Hyperkalemia. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.What is diabetes?Udensi UK, Tchounwou PB.Potassium homeostasis, oxidative stress, and human disease.Int J Clin Exp Physiol. 2017;4(3):111–122. doi:10.4103/ijcep.ijcep_43_17Billman GE.Homeostasis: the underappreciated and far too often ignored central organizing principle of physiology.Front Physiol. 2020;11:200. doi:10.3389/fphys.2020.00200
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Journal of Medical Physiology and Therapeutics.Role of homeostasis in human physiology: a review.Davies KJA.Adaptive homeostasis.Molecular Aspects of Medicine. 2016;49:1-7. doi:10.1016/j.mam.2016.04.007Cannon WB.The Wisdom of the Body.W.W. Norton & Company Inc; New York: 1932.Hoenig MP, Zeidel ML.Homeostasis, the milieu intérieur, and the wisdom of the nephron.CJASN. 2014;9(7):1272-1281. doi:10.2215/CJN.08860813Prabhakar NR, Semenza GL.Oxygen sensing and homeostasis.Physiology. 2015;30(5):340-348. doi:10.1152/physiol.00022.2015Röder PV, Wu B, Liu Y, Han W.Pancreatic regulation of glucose homeostasis.Exp Mol Med. 2016;48(3):e219-e219. doi:10.1038/emm.2016.6Armstrong M, Kerndt CC, Moore RA.Physiology, baroreceptors. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Yu E, Sharma S.Physiology, calcium. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Simon LV, Farrell MW.Hyperkalemia. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.What is diabetes?Udensi UK, Tchounwou PB.Potassium homeostasis, oxidative stress, and human disease.Int J Clin Exp Physiol. 2017;4(3):111–122. doi:10.4103/ijcep.ijcep_43_17Billman GE.Homeostasis: the underappreciated and far too often ignored central organizing principle of physiology.Front Physiol. 2020;11:200. doi:10.3389/fphys.2020.00200
Journal of Medical Physiology and Therapeutics.Role of homeostasis in human physiology: a review.
Davies KJA.Adaptive homeostasis.Molecular Aspects of Medicine. 2016;49:1-7. doi:10.1016/j.mam.2016.04.007
Cannon WB.The Wisdom of the Body.W.W. Norton & Company Inc; New York: 1932.
Hoenig MP, Zeidel ML.Homeostasis, the milieu intérieur, and the wisdom of the nephron.CJASN. 2014;9(7):1272-1281. doi:10.2215/CJN.08860813
Prabhakar NR, Semenza GL.Oxygen sensing and homeostasis.Physiology. 2015;30(5):340-348. doi:10.1152/physiol.00022.2015
Röder PV, Wu B, Liu Y, Han W.Pancreatic regulation of glucose homeostasis.Exp Mol Med. 2016;48(3):e219-e219. doi:10.1038/emm.2016.6
Armstrong M, Kerndt CC, Moore RA.Physiology, baroreceptors. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.
Yu E, Sharma S.Physiology, calcium. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.
Simon LV, Farrell MW.Hyperkalemia. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.What is diabetes?
Udensi UK, Tchounwou PB.Potassium homeostasis, oxidative stress, and human disease.Int J Clin Exp Physiol. 2017;4(3):111–122. doi:10.4103/ijcep.ijcep_43_17
Billman GE.Homeostasis: the underappreciated and far too often ignored central organizing principle of physiology.Front Physiol. 2020;11:200. doi:10.3389/fphys.2020.00200
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