Homeostasis and how the body responds to exercise Essay

This report will interpret the results of the practical activities that was done in order to monitor the changes in heart rate, temperature and blood pressure before and after exercise. Blood pressure is the measure of how much pressure is put on the walls of the blood vessels when the blood is pumped through them. This is measured in two parts, the larger number on top is known as the systolic pressure, this measures the pressure as the blood is pumped away from the heart whereas the lower number (The diastolic pressure) measures the pressure as the blood returns to the heart. The normal range for a healthy blood pressure is around 120/80 at rest. When I was at rest I recorded my blood pressure which was 118/57. This blood pressure can be considered normal for my age range and fitness level. However it is possible that the reading may not have been completely accurate due to having eaten recently before, the machine may not have worked properly or because of emotional state at the t ime. The pulse is the measure of how many times the heart beats in one minute. This can be measured in either the artery in the neck (Called the carotid artery) or in the wrist. Though the beat is stronger in the neck it is sometimes more difficult to locate and so most people tend to measure it from the wrist. For a healthy person of my age a pulse rate between 60 and 100 is considered to be normal. When I was at rest my heart rate was 82 bpm (Beats per minute). This could be inaccurate due to being nervous though I took my pulse reading both manually and on a machine and it came back the same both times, which may increase the reliability of the results. I recorded my temperature by placing a thermometer in my mouth, this is because under the tongue is one of the more accurate places to get a reading on the body temperature. The normal body temperature of a person is around 37  °C. At rest my temperature was 36.3  °C. This is a normal temperature. When I did the activities I recorded my heart rate, blood pressure and temperature after 1 minute, 3 minutes and then after 5 minutes of exercise. After one minute my heart rate had increased to 94 Bpm, my temperature was 36.8  °C and my blood pressure was 120/68. This is an increase in when I was at rest due to the body’s need for a higher amount of oxygen to go through the blood to the muscles that needed it; this caused an increase in heart and breathing rate so that there was an increase in the amount of oxygen supply to the  body. There was an increase in temperature because there is an increase in physical activity, which creates an increase in the heat that is given off by the muscles, increasing the overall temperature of the body. I then did the activity again for three minutes before I recorded my heart rate, blood pressure and temperature again. After three minutes there was a further increase in all three results. My heart rate was 112 Bpm, my temperature increased to 37.5 °C and my blood pressure was 120/78. I then repeated the exercise for a further 5 minutes, however there was an interval of where I had to wait to be able to record what the results were. Due to this my heart rate was 102 Bpm, my temperature was 37.3 °C and my blood pressure was 120/75. When an individual exercises there are internal changes that the body must respond to in order to keep the body functioning as it should. As you exercise your pulse and respiration rate increases to compensate for the higher demand of oxygen in the muscles. While your heart and respiration rate increases the muscles also produce heat as a waste product which heats up the body, in order to control the body temperature, the body produces sweat, when an individual sweats the body is trying to cool itself down. This is known as a negative feedback loop, in a negative feedback, the body responds to change by trying to bring it back to the normal range. In a negative feedback there is a stimulus, a sensor, a regulator (Or control) and a effector. In the case of an increase in temperature the stimuli, which would be the skin, sends a signal to the sensor, this is the nerves. Once this happens a signal is then sent to the regulator (Or control), this is the hypothalamus, When this happens another signal is then sent to the effector, which is the sweat glands which respond to the rise in temperature by producing sweat. In conclusion I found that the longer that I exercised the more my readings increased, however these may not be acute due to the equipment was not readily available and so I had to wait to record the readings allowing the results to decrease. Another way this may not be true is because my reading that was taken after 5 minutes was lower than both of the other results, this could be because I had to wait a longer period of time to take the results.