HOMEOSTASIS AND ALLOSTASIS
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Homeostasis The word homeostasis is derived from the Greek words homeo, or similar, and stasis, or standing still, and means maintaining internal conditions in a stable state by keeping parameters relatively the same. Homeostasis often is conceptualized as a state of being in which all systems are in balance around a particular ideal “set-point.” From this perspective, bodily changes formerly seen as conflicting or detrimental are understood as adaptive or compensatory to the maintenance of homeostasis within the body as a whole. Homeostasis reflects a tendency to stabilize an organism’s functional systems, despite changes both internally and externally. Deviations from homeostasis resulting from these changes require elaborate systems to support the return of balance to the body. Over the past several decades, the definition of homeostasis has been criticized as being inadequate in encompassing the entire process of maintaining a stable state in complex organisms. But the fact remains that homeostatic concepts are an essential starting point for an explora- tion of stress, adaptation, and disease.
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