Homeostasis: Definition, Examples, and Regulation

Introduction 

Homeostasis is the body’s capability to enhance maintenance of relatively stable internal conditions such as iron content in the blood, temperature, energy production and retention and the overall blood composition. Kidney, liver and the brain are the three vital organs in the body that are responsible for maintaining homeostasis in the body. In an effort to maintain internal homeostasis, exercises cause many homeostatic factors to kick in. Through measuring and observing certain parameters, it is possible to determine how exercise affects some of these homeostatic factors. The main question being answered in this lab was “how does exercise affect a person’s perspiration level, breathing rate, and heart’s rate?” The hypothesis formed was that exercise and effects of exercise are related and hence heart rate increases with increased intensity of the exercise. 

Methods 

We chose a volunteer to complete each of the exercises (jumping jacks, twists, squat and running in place and power walks) at a constant rate for three minutes. We made sure that before the exercise begun, the volunteer was inactive for a few minutes. 

We measured the volunteer’s heart rate by taking his/her pulse. We used carotid pulse and radial pulse. 

We then recorded resting point heartrate and activity heart rate after three minutes for each of the exercises for all the volunteers. 

We then measured post activity three-minute heart rate for all the volunteers for all the exercises and recorded it in the table. 

We recorded the whole group activity heartrate with different activity intensity levels. We recorded average resting point heart rates, average activity heart rate and average post-activity after 3 minutes’ heartrate for different activities intensity levels. 

Results 

Table 1: Ngoc’s Data 

Table 2: Ananya’s Data 

Table 3: Yajaira’s Beckles 

Table 4: David’s Data 

Table 5: Whole group activities heart rate (bpm) average 

Figure 1: The average heart rate (bpm) in activities intensity levels 

Discussion/Conclusion 

There is an increase in heart rate with increased exercise intensities for each of the participants due to the impact of exercise on the respiratory and circulatory organs as shown in tables 1 through 5 and in figure 1. Based on the data gathered, the hypothesis developed at the start of the experiment was accepted since there was an increase in heartrate with increased intensity of the exercises. Besides, it was concluded that exercise and effects of exercise are related. Also, measuring the body temperature prior to and after exercises is another process that can be utilized in measuring the external and internal impacts of exercise on the body (Goldstein, 2019). This can be a good variable to measure since an increase in heart rate usually result in perspiration which occurs as a result of temperature changes in the body since they are both detrimental feedback mechanisms. The body attempts to return to homeostasis after exercise returning to its original temperature as a negative feedback. 

Reference 

Goldstein, D. S. (2019). How does homeostasis happen? Integrative physiological, systems biological, and evolutionary perspectives.  American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology ,  316 (4), R301-R317.