H₂O + CO₂ ↔ H₂CO₃↔ H⁺ + HCO₃⁻ Homeostasis is a feature of a system that normalises its internal environment irrespective of the external environment. As an example our internal body temperature will be kept as close as possible to 36.5 to 37.5 degrees irrespective of hot or cold external temperature.
If ill health is not controlled homeostasis will eventually no longer be able to normalise its internal environment. This means internal temperature increases or decreases, if this is not corrected it will lead to death. An internal environment that is of great significance is Blood pH. It plays a pivotal role in many biological functions. Blood pH is kept at a fixed value of 7.35 to 7.45 – slightly acidic through the blood buffer system. The blood buffer system compensates for excess carbon dioxide in the blood by altering the rate of respiration which releases carbon dioxide, this shifts the reaction to the right producing carbonic acid leading to a donation of hydrogen ions and increasing bicarbonate production. The renal and respiratory systems being kidneys and lungs are both involved in the regulation of blood pH by excreting respiratory and fixed acids. The kidneys excrete hydrogen ions if blood pH is acidic and if blood pH is alkaline they release hydrogen ions back to the blood to reabsorb filtered bicarbonate. If the body is unable to regulate blood pH it can lead to respiratory organ failure, kidney failure, shock, coma and inevitably death. Honey is a pure organic form of sugar which contains a highly complex mixture of carbohydrates, enzymes, amino acids, organic acids, minerals, vitamins, aromatic substances, pigments and waxes. It is a sweetener that is made naturally by bees for their own use, using nectar from flowers.
Honey has been used both as a food and as a medicine since the ancient times. The practice of beekeeping to make honey is known as “Apiculture”. It dates as far back to at least 700BC. Honey was praised for being wonderfully sweet and it was also a rarity. Some of it’s uses back then was for use in ceremonies and unusually embalming the deceased. Honey was also used for a variety of medicinal and cosmetic purposes. In the early days, honey’s use in cooking was considered only for the wealthy as it was an expense that only they could afford. Once refined sugar became more widely available, honey went out of favour, due to the fact that refined sugar was a relatively inexpensive form of sweetening. As the popularity grew with the refined sugars honey became displaced by sugar for culinary advantages. Since then, although honey still gets used for sweetening, much of its use has been used for medicinal purposes and its use in confectionary. The process of making honey starts as soon as the nectar is collected by bees from flowers. The nectar once it’s in the bees mouth combines with special enzymes in the bee’s saliva, which turns it into honey. The bees carry honey back to the hive, where they deposit it into the tiny cells of the hive’s walls. The flapping of their wings provides necessary air to limit the honeys moisture content, making it ready to eat. Before the turn of modern medicine, traditional methods of healing using foods and herbs were a big thing. In particular one remedy being the natural concoction of honey and lemon - a traditional mixture that is used to ease sore throats. The lemon juice in this combination makes sense as lemons contain vitamin C which is known to have immune stimulating and anti-infective effects in the body. When it comes to the honey side it is a known fact that it was used as a natural healing method dating back to ancient Egyptian times. Scientific research has found that the application of honey can aide in resolving a variety of wounds such as burns, the ability to starve off wound infections, reduce inflammation and healing. I like to use honey as it is a natural sweetener better for the body and is full of natural healing nutrients for both inside and outside of the body. Honey is also a natural source of energy for the whole body. The Nervous System processes electrical stimulus from sensory receptors, it transfers and interprets signals to control the body’s muscles and organs. The nervous system is comprised of the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system and autonomic nervous system.
There are three main anatomical structures that play a pivotal role in the nervous system being the brain, nervous tissue and the spinal cord. The brain The brain comprises of the brain stem, cerebellum and cerebrum. The brain stem is located at the base of the brain and starts from the upper cervical spinal cord and finishes at the diencephalon of the cerebrum. The brain stem is split into medulla, pons and mid brain. Behind the brain stem is the cerebellum which is located below the cerebrum. Its role is to co-ordinate musculoskeletal movement, control posture and balance. The cerebrum is made up of 4 lobes being frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital. These four lobes are associated with reasoning, movement, visual processing and auditory perception. Nervous Tissue Nervous tissue is comprised of neurons and glial cells which both play a role in cell to cell signalling. Neurons are the main type of cells held accountable for the computation and communication that the nervous system produces. Glial cells play a supporting role for the nervous tissue to function. The Spinal Cord The spinal cord and its associated nerves are the most important structure between the body and the brain. They are a vital link between the brain and the body, and from the body to the brain structured by sensory and motor tracts and complex pathways (afferent and efferent). The spinal cord is a tubular collection of nerve fibres measuring approx. 40 – 50cm long that extends from the brain stem running down through the foramen magnum and ending at the lumbar region (L1-L2) at this point it becomes the cauda equina and continues through the remainder of the spinal column which is part of the central nervous system. The spinal cord is protected by 24 vetebrae that is known as the spine, it is split into 5 regions referred to as cervical region C1-C7 (neck); thoracic region T1-T8 (chest) lumbar region L1-L5 (lower back); sacral region S1-S5 (posterior of the pelvis) and coccygeal region C1-C4 (rear of the spine). There are 31 pairs of associated nerves which attaches from the junction between each vertebra and innervates to the body to perform certain actions such as the cervical nerves control breathing and arm movements; thoracic nerves control chest and abdominal muscle movements; lumbar nerves control hip and leg movements along with bowel and bladder function; sacral and coccyx nerves control balance, bladder, bowel and sexual function. |
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