homeostatic
Meaning of homeostatic: Homeostatic describes processes and mechanisms that maintain the body's internal stability despite ongoing changes in its external or internal environment.
Definition of homeostatic
Homeostatic describes anything related to homeostasis, the body's ongoing process of maintaining a relatively stable internal environment despite changes occurring outside the body or within it. Homeostatic mechanisms continuously monitor conditions such as temperature, fluid balance, and the concentration of various substances in the blood, adjusting bodily processes to keep these conditions within a functional range.
These mechanisms typically work through feedback loops, in which a change away from the usual range triggers a response designed to bring the condition back toward that range, and once balance is restored, the triggering response is reduced. Nearly every organ system contributes to homeostatic regulation in some way.
Because homeostatic mechanisms operate continuously and largely without conscious awareness, disruption of these processes, whether from illness, injury, or environmental extremes, can allow a bodily condition to drift outside its usual range and contribute to the symptoms of a wide variety of medical conditions.
Used in a sentence
The patient's abnormal laboratory values reflected a disruption of normal homeostatic regulation.
Good to know
Homeostatic feedback loops normally work to restore a condition automatically once it drifts from its usual range, so a persistently abnormal value on testing often indicates that an underlying process is overwhelming this normal regulatory response.
Word origin
Where “homeostatic” comes from
Formed from Greek homoios, meaning similar or like, and stasis, meaning standing or stability.