 Today’s lecture will be a general lecture , an introduction .

It will not contain much

scientific information .

What is physiology ? We refer it in Arabic as ( ‫ ) علم وظائف األعضاء‬. What does it mean
?
It is the study of how do the body’s organs work . I didn’t say the body as a whole ,
but you can say physiology studies how each system in our bodies works .

Our bodies are composed of systems . We have the central nervous system , we have
the endocrine system , we have the gastrointestinal system ( GI system ) , we have
the respiratory system , and we have the renal system . All these systems together
form the body . And each system of these systems has a specific function .

Ok , what is a system composed of ? It is composed of organs . For example , the

cardiovascular system is composed of the heart and the blood vessels . The
respiratory system is composed of the lungs , the bronchi and the trachea ... etc .
So systems are composed of organs , and the organs are composed of tissues , and
the tissues are composed of cells .

The smallest unit in our bodies is the cell . The cell composes tissues , the tissues
compose organs , the organs compose systems , and the systems compose the body
as a whole .

The physiology subject is the subject that studies the functions of each system of the
systems composing the body .

Can the cell live in any condition or environment ? Of course not . We have certain
conditions which are required for cells to live in . If we put the cells in any
environment which is far away or different than its normal conditions , the cell will
die .
Therefore , when we look to the cells , which make up the body systems , we will see
that the body systems must work in a fashion to maintain the conditions for the cells
to be constant , so that they can live in .
So the body systems therefore work together in an integrated manner in order to
maintain a suitable conditions inside our bodies for the cells to be able to live in .

 This is what we call " Homeostasis " . The functions of the systems therefore is to
keep the conditions internally - inside our bodies – constant , or let’s say to keep it in
such a condition in which the cell can live . " Not 100 % constant "

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 For example , if you bring a tissue , a living tissue , and put it in a high sodium salt ,
high salt concentration in any medium , even in blood . Will this cell be able to live in
such a high concentration of sodium solution ? Surely no .
If you put any living organism in a salty solution , it will not be able to live . Let’s go to
The Dead Sea , why do we call it The Dead sea ? Because there are no living things in
it at all due to the high salt concentration in the solution .

This situation will come to the body . We have sodium salt in our bodies , in the
blood . It must be kept at certain levels . But if I let its concentration to be increased
in the blood more than normal , an unsuitable condition for a cell to live in , then the
cell eventually will die . And this what is called a disease .

What is a disease ? It is a deviation from the normal conditions which are accepted
by the cells . If you deviated a normal condition , the cell will not be able to live , and
this will produce a disease .

So , the smallest part of the body is the cell , we said that the cell composes the body
systems , and the body systems have specific functions each in order to maintain a
steady state conditions , not constant conditions .

When we come to the PH , we all know that the blood PH is about 7.4 . But is it
always 7.4 ? Doesn’t increase or decrease ?
The body can accept a small change , a narrow change in the PH from 7.35 up to 7.45
.
So the PH is a dynamic , which means that it could vary slightly in a very narrow
range , which is still acceptable by the cell .
But what if the PH became 7.5 , which is not suitable for the body ? Some
mechanisms will bring it down to 7.45 or 7.4 . These mechanisms , which decrease
the factor to the normal conditions , are called " Homeostatic Mechanisms " . Then
why we need homeostatic mechanisms ?
And those homeostatic mechanisms are required in order to maintain a steady state
conditions , not constant ones .
Constant means that the value doesn’t change at all . 7.4 is 7.4 , doesn’t change at all
. But a steady state means that you can deviate it a little bit from the normal value
by increasing or decreasing it . And this will be still acceptable by the cell . So
because of that , we call it a steady state .

 Why do we need these homeostatic mechanisms ? Because as you all know , we

have inputs into our bodies . We eat , we drink juices and water and so on . So we
have intakes in the body . We have the food nutrients , proteins , carbohydrates and
fats . Also we have metabolic activities all the time in our bodies going on in all cells .

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 And as a result of these activities , we have metabolites . These metabolites must be
eliminated . Therefore , our bodies are in a dynamic state , not constant and don’t
change , they do change .

Where we have inputs and outputs , we have metabolic products . Can we allow
these products to stay in the body ? Of course not .
CO2 is a metabolic product . Can we keep CO2 to accumulate in our bodies ? No . Or
death will follow in a couple of weeks . So CO2 must be eliminated .
Therefore , the body is in a dynamic state , continuously changing , but maintaining
the internal environment in a narrow range - a steady state - conditions which is
suitable for the living of the cells .
So we need homeostatic mechanisms all the time , and they are also achieved by the
different systems in our bodies .
The need of homeostatic mechanisms therefore is due to the dynamic state of the
body . The state of changing is continuous in the body producing metabolic products
, consuming the substances , so we have to keep the homeostatic mechanisms
working all the time to maintain or to keep the internal environment steady for the
cell to be able to live normally , and we stay in a healthy condition .
If we deviate from this steady state , then a disease will be initiated , it will be a
matter of time .

 Ok , what are these homeostatic mechanisms ? They can be divided into two families
:
1. Intrinsic Mechanisms .
2. Extrinsic Mechanisms .

 What do we mean by intrinsic ? It means that it is from within the tissue itself . It has
nothing to do with the outside . Just within the tissue itself . For example , in the
muscles , when the muscles do exercises , it consume oxygen . That means that the
level of oxygen in these muscles will decrease , so they need more oxygen .

How can I increase the amount of oxygen in the muscles to reach its need ? I may
expand the blood vessels . When I expand the blood vessels , more blood will come
to the muscle , more blood will carry more oxygen , so therefore you will increase
the availability of oxygen in that tissue . This control occurs locally within that
particular tissue , and there is no need for another factor from the outside . So this is
called an intrinsic factor .
Another example . The heart has a property or a character . It will give you what you
give it from the blood . If you give 10 mL to the heart , it will give you 10 mL back . If
you give 50 mL , it will return 50 mL . So the heart has internally mechanisms - which

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 ALLAH created them inside the heart - , which will allow it to adapt to such
conditions .
 Imagine if the heart capacity was just to pulse 50 mL once regardless the amount
you give to it . If you give it 7o mL and it will return just 5o mL and 20 mL remains , it
will enlarge . You gave it another 7o mL and again it just returned 5o mL , there will
be another 20 mL remaining . It will be enlarged more , which is an abnormal
condition .

In the normal conditions , this does not occur . The healthy heart will be able to
adapt , because of the intrinsical property of the heart . If you give it 5o mL , it will
eject 50 mL , if you give 100 mL , it will adapt intrinsically and will give you 100 mL ,
and so on .

 We have intrinsic controlling mechanisms , and these mechanisms are local , which
means that they occur in that specific tissue when we need a change .

 The other type of mechanisms , are the extrinsic . Which means that they are from
outside the organ . It will involve two controlling systems in our bodies , the central
nervous system , with the brain as the integrated organ that analyzes the results that
are received from the body parts , and performs what is required , by sending
messages to the heart , to the lungs , to the bladder , to every muscle in our bodies ,
to perform what is required under that condition . So , the central nervous system is
one controlling system .

The other system is the endocrine system . You all know what is the endocrine , the
hormones system . So the endocrine system can control the functions of the body’s
other organs , through messages that are carried by hormones , our chemical
messengers .

Therefore , the homeostatic control systems can be subdivided into intrinsic , within
the tissue , within the organ itself , or extrinsic , which usually come from the central
nervous system through the neurons , and the endocrine system by the hormones .

Most of the controlling systems in our bodies can be one of three , either negative
feedback system , positive feedback system in some conditions , or they can be
forward feedback mechanisms as what we have in the GI system .

 What do we mean by all this ? Suppose that we want to control the temperature of
this room , and the same story applies to the temperature of our bodies .

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 I think that you all appreciate that the temperature of our bodies is controlled
around 37° C .

However , it is not exactly 37° . It is around 36.5° in the morning , when we wake up .
During the day , it could be 37.5° . That means it is a dynamic parameter because it is
not 37 all the time , it is not constant . This means that the body can accept a small
change in the temperature from 36.5° up to 37.5° .

How do we maintain this steady state ? Once again , it is not constant , it is not
constant , it is steady state , and could allow more changes to occur .

If we want to control the temperature of this room at 22° C , what would we do ?

We need a temperature sensor , which will sense the temperature if it is 22° or else .
This sensor will send a message to an integrator , which will explain the message that
comes from the sensor and knows if it is 22° or not . So the computer in the
integrator will explain what is the message . If it is 22° , it is fine , and nothing will
happen , no changes . But suppose that it was 15° in the room , what do you think
that the integrator would do ? It will send a message to an affecter , which will do or
apply the change you are asking for .
In this case , I need the affecter to increase the temperature by 7° . How it would
raise it ?
It will switch on a burner , the affecter . This affecter will try to work through some
mechanisms in order to bring up the temperature to 22° . So these successive
responses will result in the 15 going up to 16 , the to 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 and finally
the desired 22° . When 22° is reached , it will switch off everything . It will switch off
the mechanisms . The sensor is going to sense the 22° here , it will send the 22 to the
integrator which will switch off the affecter , and no more changes in the
temperature will occur .

We will apply this example to the body’s temperature . So when we come to the
body temperature , do we have thermometers in our bodies ? We do have . - ALLAH
created them in it - and we call them thermostats , thermo regulators or thermo
receptors . So in our bodies , if the temperature was less than 37° , directly that
affect those thermostats , the thermo regulators .
And those thermo regulators will know if the temperature is more than of below 37°
. If it was below 37 , the thermostats will explain and know that the temperature is
less than 37 . Directly it will send a message to the burner , the furness . The furness
will start working to produce heat , and this heat will keep going up and up and up ,
up to the 37° let’s say . And with the temperature of 37 , the thermometer will sense
the increase in the body’s temperature .

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 This means that the heat production from the furness will increase the temperature
of the body until it reaches 37° , which will be sensed back by the thermometer ,
and the thermometer will switch off the furness .
We call this process negative feedback system .

The thermo regulators in the body are neurons , nerve cells , mainly in the
hypothalamus . They sense the drop in the body’s temperature , and they will tell the
control system in the brain that there is a drop in the temperature . The brain will
send a message to the muscles , and you know , muscles are the location of energy
production , right ? You know , when a person is shivering from coldness , this
shivering is to increase the muscles contraction in order to generate energy .

So therefore , the temperature control centres will send a message to the muscles to
increase their contraction , and this will increase the energy production in our bodies
.
And when the temperate goes back to the normal 37 , this will be sensed by the
thermo regulator cells , and will switch off the hall pathway . No more need to
increase the temperature , so no more muscles contraction . Again this is called the
negative feedback system .

 We have in the hormones , in the endocrine system , so many systems that are a
negative feedback systems . Most of the release of the hormones is through the
negative feedback system .

Here is another example , the blood pressure . We are all aware that the first thing is
measured when you go to a hospital is your blood pressure . If you are having a
headache , what do they do ? They measure the temperature and the blood pressure
. Because these two factor could throw some light on the physiology of the body as a
whole .
We all hear that someone is hypertensive patient . Their blood pressure is higher
than the normal .
We know that the normal blood pressure is about 120 systole on 80 diastole . But
when we come to the cardiovascular system , the body doesn’t see the 120 nor the
80 , and therefore the body doesn’t monitor the 120 nor the 80 . Our pressure
sensors don’t measure the 120 and the 80 also . So what do they measure ?
They measure the average between them . Of course not the mathematical average ,
no , there is a special average for them , and you will see in the cardiovascular
system how do we calculate it .
You know , 120 + 80 over 2 equals 100 . But the average in our bodies which is being
monitored or controlled is 93 , 93 mm Hg .

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 Therefore , if your body maintains the average blood pressure at 93 mm Hg , then
you will be secured that the systole is 120 and the diastole is 80 .

Ok , we want to control the blood pressure around 93 . It must be 93 . If it becomes

less than 93 , do we have sensors in our bodies to sense it ? Yes we do .
We have pressure receptors called baroreceptors . They will sense that the blood
pressure is below 93 , they will send a message through the neurons to the brain ,
the integrator .
The integrator will explain the signal coming from the receptors , that there is a drop
in the blood pressure . So I must do mechanisms that would raise the pressure back
to normal .
This integrator , the brain , usually sends a message to the heart and the blood
vessels to do what is needed . The need is to raise the blood pressure back to 93 mm
Hg through their effect .
So , by the effect of the brain , your integrator , your computer , that analyzed the
signal coming of the baroreceptors , and knew that there is a drop in the blood
pressure , this integrator drives some mechanisms which are the affecters organs ,
such as the heart and the blood vessels , in order to elevate the blood pressure back
to 93 .
If it is back to 93 , then it will switch off the mechanisms , so no more changes in
heart rate or in the blood vessels activity , and therefore no more increase in the
blood pressure and it will stay around 93 mm Hg .

And vice versa if there is a hypertension or a high temperature . Completely the

opposite will occur .

If there is an elevation in the blood pressure , again the receptors , the baroreceptors
in our bodies , the sensors , will sense this elevation , and will send a message to the
brain , the computer system . The computer system will analyze this elevation , and
will send a message to the heart and the vessels that calm down . Therefore the
blood pressure will come back down to around 93 .
Once it is back to 93 , it will switch off the mechanisms and no more changes in the
blood pressure will happen .

So , this is mainly the negative feedback system . And most of the mechanisms in our
bodies , most of the homeostatic mechanisms , mainly 90 % of them operate
through the negative feedback system .

 What about the positive feedback system ?

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 We have positive feedback systems , and a very good example on it is Oxitocin ,
which happens during women childbirth or more accurately during the labour .
This positive feedback system works in a limited conditions . It is not widespread in
the body . Very few systems in our bodies depend on it . Mainly in the production
system more than any system else .

By the way , what is oxitocin ? It is a hormone which is released initially when the
labour begins and starts , and the baby is pushed out in the initially stages by the
prostaglandins , the cells of the surface will send a message to the brain , where the
oxitocin is synthesised and released , and it will be released to the blood stream . It
will go back to the uterus , to the uterine wall , and will stimulate it to contract cells
further and stronger , and this will push the baby out more .
More stretch , and a message will be sent to the brain , and it will release more and
more oxitocin in order to increase the contraction of the uterus more and more .
And this is a typical example of the positive feedback system .

The other well known positive feedback system , also in the reproductive system , is
the secretion of Oestrogen .
Oestrogen is one of the hormones in the reproductive system .
In small quantities , it stimulates more oestrogen to be released from the uterus and
the ovaries .
The more oestrogen released in the blood , the more will be released from the
ovaries , up to a certain level which will eventually lead to ovulation then the process
of reproduction or reproductive .

So the second example on the positive feedback system is the release of oestrogen .
Small amounts will lead to more and more releasing , in a positive feedback fashion .

 The forward feedback is also limited . It occurs in a very limited number of cases .

Forward feedback , how comes forward and feedback ? This is an anticipation .

Your body somehow anticipates that certain mechanisms will occur after 1 or 2
hours , and a specific organ will do what is required to do to be ready at time .

The best example is the GI system .

After eating , we know that the food will enter into the stomach , then it will go to
the small intestine , then to the large intestine , and it will be accumulated in the
large intestine .
But if food accumulate in the large intestine forever , can you eat later on , after 1 or
2 days ? Such as people suffering of constipation ?

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 In the normal conditions , this doesn’t happen .
Why ? Because once you eat , and the food enter into the stomach , the first piece
enters will trigger the reflex of defecation . So after you eat , and the food is present
in the stomach , you will see shortly after that , that you will have a sensation of
going to the toilet to get rid of the waste .
This is a forward anticipation mechanism , and we call it forward feedback
mechanisms or movements .

Another example , also in the GI system . When we have food in the stomach , it will
stimulate the pancreas to secrete or release the pancreatic juice . And as you know ,
this juice is rich in enzymes . It is released into the duodenum .
So when the food is present in the stomach , this will stimulate the pancreatic juice
secretion , which is again , secreted in the pancreas .

So when the food enter the small intestine , the conditions will be ready and suitable
to begin the digestion .
Also the presence of food in the stomach will stimulate the liver secretion , the bile
secretion from the liver I mean , which is important for fat digestion .

So , forward feedback in anticipation for certain mechanisms which will occur later
on , they do occur in our bodies , mainly in the GI system .
But once again , they are limited , not widespread .

So , when we come to the homeostatic mechanisms in general , homeostasis

therefore is the mechanism which maintain the internal environment of the body
steady and viable ( ‫ ) قابلة للحياة‬for the cell . These homeostatic mechanisms occur
mainly by intrinsic or extrinsic mechanisms .
Which they constitute the negative feedback systems , which are about 80 – 90 % of
our bodies systems .
Small number of systems are positive feedback , and the least are forward feedback
systems in anticipation of certain events which will happen 30 minutes or 1 – 2 hours
later .

 This completes the lecture , which was mainly about the homeostasis . It is the
maintenance of a steady state internal conditions for the cells to be able to live in .
--------------------

Done by : Salah Mortaja 

Good luck and best wishes all 

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 * Success is not the key to happiness . Happiness is the key to success . If you
love what you are doing , you will be successful .

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