Feedback Mechanisms and Disease
Your body maintains homeostasis primarily through negative feedback mechanisms that work like a thermostatโwhen a variable shifts from its set point, processes activate to return it to normal, then shut off the response. This prevents overcorrection and maintains stability.
In contrast, positive feedback mechanisms amplify changes, pushing variables further from their starting points at an accelerating rate. These are less common but important in processes like blood clotting and childbirth, where rapid escalation is beneficial.
Homeostatic imbalance leads to disease when negative feedback mechanisms are overwhelmed or when destructive positive feedback takes over. The study of how normal processes go wrong is called pathophysiology. Disease can result from various mechanisms including genetic mutations, pathogens, inflammation, degeneration, tumors, malnutrition, autoimmunity, or physical/chemical injuries.
๐จ Understanding feedback mechanisms helps explain many diseases. For example, in diabetes, the negative feedback system that should regulate blood glucose breaks down, leading to dangerous fluctuations in blood sugar levels.