Disease disrupts homeostasis, causing maladaptation in organs and tissues. Kidney dysfunction, infections, and aging can lead to homeostatic failure, resulting in serious health problems. The immune system can also interfere with treatment, and hypersensitivity can develop.
Disease states are the primary cause of the failure of homeostasis, an inability to maintain physiological balance within the body’s internal environment. Due to the processes involved in the disease, the functioning of tissues and organs is altered in such a way as to cause serious maladaptation, particularly in diseases affecting the kidney and immune system function. Certain mechanisms are initiated that work to defend the body against invading pathogens, but sometimes the system may mistakenly fight itself. As humans age, the capabilities of organ systems decrease, interfering with homeostatic functioning, as evidenced by Alzheimer’s disease and cardiac arrhythmia.
Sudden disruption of kidney function can cause serious problems due to a breakdown in homeostasis, as these important organs help the blood remove harmful toxins and maintain efficient fluid and electrolyte levels. Tumors and kidney stones can prevent urine from being passed due to blockages in the urinary duct, while some types of medications can also disturb the way the kidneys work. In case of hemorrhage, blood circulation to the kidneys decreases leading to acute renal failure, characterized by edema, nausea and convulsions. It can also result in a coma.
Temperature regulation mechanisms are disrupted due to the presence of infectious agents within the body, especially in those with suppressed immune function. Fever is one of the important ways the body fights against infections as the hypothalamus raises its core temperature, causing chills and fatigue. Normal body temperature ranges around 98.6° Fahrenheit (37° Celsius), but fever typically develops at around 100° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius). While fever can be controlled with drugs called antipyretics and other interventions, the most effective treatment rids the body of the offending pathogen.
The immune system’s ability to distinguish between itself and true pathogens can sometimes interfere with treatment. For example, a patient receiving an organ transplant or blood transfusion might experience a reaction that could lead to the failure of homeostasis because the immune system has many ways in which mechanisms designed to protect the human body can fail. Sometimes hypersensitivity, an overly excitable immune response to an antigen that would not normally cause any reaction, develops, as in the case of an allergic reaction to a bee sting.
The changes that occur over the course of aging lead to decreased functioning in older people. The decline in the capacity of various systems in the human body, although more evident in the elderly, can begin much earlier in life, such as with Alzheimer’s disease. The body’s systems decline at different points, causing homeostasis to fail due to decreased functioning of nerves and other organs.
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