Positive Feedback Mechanisms
The human body requires homeostasis to keep a set point at a constant. With feedback loops, the internal environment of the body can achieve to keep it at the set point. All homeostatic mechanisms use a feedback loop to inform the body about any changes that occur externally or internally. There are two different kinds of homeostatic mechanisms: a positive feedback mechanism and a negative feedback mechanism. Positive feedback mechanisms boost physiological processes and amplify the system's action to move the system away from the equilibrium state so it is more stable. Negative feedback mechanisms, on the other hand, maintain equilibrium by reversing the change and returning it to the set level. Most body systems are able to achieve homeostasis
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The changes (increase or decrease) in blood sugar levels acts as the stimulus. A stimulus is a change in a specific variable. The Alpha ( ) and Beta ( ) cells act as the receptors and detect a stimulus so it may send impulses to the control centre to counteract the change. The pancreas has the role of being the control centre as it is the endocrine gland, which releases the peptide hormones, insulin and glucagon, to regulate blood glucose levels. Insulin and glucagon are hormones and are dynamic chemical regulators. They both have a huge effect on metabolism despite the fact that they are produced in small quantities. These two are antagonistic hormones meaning an opposing (antagonistic) hormone often counteracts the effects of one hormone. Therefore, feedback mechanisms adjust the balance of insulin and glucagon so it may maintain a physiological function. These peptide hormones can only be made in the Islets of Langerhans, which is a special group of cells located in the pancreas. Seven different types of cells are contained in the islets but the important ones are the Alpha cells and Beta cells. Alpha cells detect when the blood glucose falls below 70 mg/dl and release glucagon. Glucagon stimulates the conversion of glycogen into glucose as to increase blood glucose. In contrast, Beta cells detect when the blood glucose rises above 110 mg/dl and releases insulin. Insulin stimulates the conversion of glucose into glycogen which is stored until needed as to decrease blood
The changes (increase or decrease) in blood sugar levels acts as the stimulus. A stimulus is a change in a specific variable. The Alpha ( ) and Beta ( ) cells act as the receptors and detect a stimulus so it may send impulses to the control centre to counteract the change. The pancreas has the role of being the control centre as it is the endocrine gland, which releases the peptide hormones, insulin and glucagon, to regulate blood glucose levels. Insulin and glucagon are hormones and are dynamic chemical regulators. They both have a huge effect on metabolism despite the fact that they are produced in small quantities. These two are antagonistic hormones meaning an opposing (antagonistic) hormone often counteracts the effects of one hormone. Therefore, feedback mechanisms adjust the balance of insulin and glucagon so it may maintain a physiological function. These peptide hormones can only be made in the Islets of Langerhans, which is a special group of cells located in the pancreas. Seven different types of cells are contained in the islets but the important ones are the Alpha cells and Beta cells. Alpha cells detect when the blood glucose falls below 70 mg/dl and release glucagon. Glucagon stimulates the conversion of glycogen into glucose as to increase blood glucose. In contrast, Beta cells detect when the blood glucose rises above 110 mg/dl and releases insulin. Insulin stimulates the conversion of glucose into glycogen which is stored until needed as to decrease blood