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As in other mammals, human thermoregulation is an important aspect of homeostasis. In thermoregulation, body heat is generated mostly in the deep organs, especially the liver, brain, and heart, and in contraction of skeletal muscles. [1] Humans have been able to adapt to a great diversity of climates, including hot humid and hot arid.
The heat-regulating mechanisms of the body eventually become overwhelmed and unable to deal effectively with the heat, causing the body temperature to climb uncontrollably. Hyperthermia at or above about 40 °C (104 °F) is a life-threatening medical emergency that requires immediate treatment.
Origins of heat and cold adaptations can be explained by climatic adaptation. [16] [17] Ambient air temperature affects how much energy investment the human body must make. The temperature that requires the least amount of energy investment is 21 °C (70 °F). [5] [disputed – discuss] The body controls its temperature through the hypothalamus.
The rate of heat loss from the human body is a function of subcutaneous fat thickness, but metabolic heat production is not accurately predictable, which is a limitation on predicting the lowest water temperature in which a stable thermal balance can be reached, with or without a given external insulation.
Thermogenesis is the process of heat production in organisms.It occurs in all warm-blooded animals, and also in a few species of thermogenic plants such as the Eastern skunk cabbage, the Voodoo lily (Sauromatum venosum), and the giant water lilies of the genus Victoria.
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Endothermy [a] is the ability of some creatures to control their body temperatures through internal means such as muscle shivering or increasing their metabolism. The opposite of endothermy is ectothermy. Homeothermy [b] maintains a stable internal body temperature regardless of external influence and temperatures. The stable internal ...
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