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Heat Balance and the Regulation of Body Temperature

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Human Physiology

Abstract

Homeothermy, poikilothermy. The metabolic processes described in the preceding chapter are associated with the generation of heat, in accordance with the laws of thermodynamics. From the metabolic point of view this heat production is a side effect, but when one is concerned with the differences in body temperature and its control within the animal kingdom metabolic heat is of fundamental interest. In one group of animals - that to which humans belong — the temperature of the body is kept at a constant level considerably above that of the surroundings, owing to a high rate of heat production governed by regulatory mechanisms. These are the homeothermic organisms. In a second group (which includes, for example, fish and reptiles), far less heat is produced; the body temperature is only slightly above the ambient temperature, and follows the fluctuations of the latter (poikilothermic organisms).

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Authors
  1. K. Brück
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physiologisches Institut der Universität, Röntgenring 9, D-8700, Würzburg, Fed. Rep. Germany

    Robert F. Schmidt Ph. D.

  2. Physiologisches Institut der Universität, Saarstraße 21, D-6500, Mainz, Fed. Rep. Germany

    Gerhard Thews

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© 1983 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg

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Brück, K. (1983). Heat Balance and the Regulation of Body Temperature. In: Schmidt, R.F., Thews, G. (eds) Human Physiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-96714-6_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-96714-6_23

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-96716-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-96714-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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