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The Mysterious Power of the Heart: Why is Self-Regulation So Important to Life?
In living organisms, self-regulation is an important process, especially shown in organs such as the heart, kidneys, and brain. This internal adaptation mechanism allows the body to adjust its response to different stimuli, ensuring that various organs receive the blood and oxygen supply they need.
Brain self-regulation
Blood flow to the brain is critical to life because it is very sensitive to increases and decreases in blood flow. Multiple mechanisms work together to maintain appropriate cerebral blood pressure.
Self-regulation of cerebral blood flow is compromised in a variety of disease states, such as traumatic brain injury, stroke, and brain tumors.
Heart’s self-regulation
First of all, the heart has two ways of self-regulation: homogeneous regulation and heterogeneous regulation. Homogenous regulation refers to the ability of the heart to increase myocardial contractility and restore stroke volume when the load increases.
This includes the Bodich effect and the Ampleon effect, which refers to a biphasic increase in the contractility of the heart under a sharp increase in load.
Heterogeneous regulation is controlled by Frank-Starlin's law and relies more on the filling status of the ventricle to adjust itself.
Self-regulation of coronary circulation
Self-regulation of the coronary circulation is critical to ensure that the heart receives the appropriate amount of oxygen. As oxygen demand increases, the heart adjusts blood flow to maintain a constant flow.
This self-regulatory process maintains healthy blood pressure within a healthy range. Research shows that the heart's blood flow is less sensitive to changes in blood pressure than the brain's self-regulation.
Self-regulation of kidneys
The kidney maintains a stable tubular filtration rate through its self-regulatory mechanism, a process involving the tubuloglomerular chain feedback mechanism.
When the concentration of sodium ions rises, the kidneys adjust their blood flow to cope with the change, eliminating excess sodium and preventing excessive vasoconstriction.
Gene self-regulation
Self-regulation is not limited to physiological systems, but also affects gene expression. For example, some proteins can positively regulate their own production, forming a negative feedback loop.
Such a system of feedback loops allows cells to remain in the same state after division until external factors disturb this balance.
In general, self-regulation plays a key role in the operation of life at multiple levels such as the heart, kidneys, brain, and genes. This makes us think: What changes in these complex biological mechanisms can promote our health and lifespan?
