Jumping into cool water on a hot day has a beneficial effect on a person. The same happens when he steps from great cold to a warm fire to warm up. The fact that this difference is perceived in this way is due to the body’s own warmth and independent acclimatization. Every human organism has a fairly constant body heat, which is independent of the outside world in temperature to begin with.
What is body heat?
Every human organism has a fairly constant body heat, which is independent in temperature of the outside world to begin with. In the animal world, there are endothermic and ectothermic animals. Those in the first category produce heat independently, while those in the second obtain their body heat almost entirely from the outside world and environment. Mammals and birds are called homoiothermic because they maintain their body temperature at an equiothermic and constantly high level. Invertebrates, fish or reptiles, on the other hand, are considered poikilothermic because their body temperature passively adapts to the outside temperature and also changes with it. Finally, there are heterothermic animals, which include, for example, the platypus or various insects. They can regulate their body temperature themselves only for a short time and to a very limited extent. The human organism has regulatory mechanisms to adjust its own body to different external temperatures in order to protect it from overheating or hypothermia, among other things. It produces heat, which in turn depends on the energy supply. Heat is generated primarily by food intake, which is oxidized and burned in the organism. Food must also be burned in the body in order to move the muscles and generate mechanical energy. The combustion energy is low, and the remaining energy is converted into body heat. This happens in the mitochondria, which are contained in every cell of the body and are considered the power plants of the organism. Due to chemical cycles in the body, oxygen is converted into water and CO2 through respiration and carbohydrates from food. This process gives rise to energy, which is converted into heat. This heat, in turn, is divided into electrical energy and kinetic energy. In this sense, from a technical point of view, humans function like a biological reactor with their own body temperature, which is around 37 degrees Celsius. Since the ambient temperature is usually lower, the human body constantly releases heat. Even when the outside temperature rises, respiratory and circulatory work increases, leading to increased body heat. The more the organism is stressed or engaged, the more body heat is formed. The skin in particular plays an essential role in the body’s heat dissipation. As well as the blood circulation and the body size.
Function and task
Heat is transported by the blood flow in the organism. Accordingly, the flow of body heat is possible only when the skin temperature is lower than the temperature of the body core. In connection with the body heat is always the body temperature, but it is not always the same even within the body. This is because the organs located in the core of the body, such as the liver, heart, brain and kidney, are basically the places where heat is formed. Although their mass is only about eight percent of the total body mass, their heat-producing portion is over seventy percent in the state of rest. In contrast, although the muscles and skin make up over fifty percent of the body, they provide less than twenty percent of the heat when the organism is at rest. Arms and legs, also called extremities, and the entire skin belong to the area of the body shell, which is not fixed. The expansion depends on the external temperature and during physical activity more heat is formed in the body shell than in the body core. To perceive temperature, humans have a sense of heat and cold. There are also heat and cold points in his skin, under which there are nerve cells whose chemistry changes with the change in temperature. If this happens, signals are sent to the brain and body heat is re-regulated.
Diseases and ailments
The human body is very sensitive when the temperature changes. Too low or too high body temperature is always a sign that something is wrong. If the temperature increases one speaks of fever.The heat emission increases due to sweating and a stronger blood circulation. If the temperature is above 40 degrees Celsius, it can even lead to death. Conversely, a temperature that is too low is a disorder that is noticeable by cold hands or feet that do not become warm even when heat is applied. The person feels cold inside. Medicine then speaks of hypothermia, but many people do not notice it out of habit. Lack of body heat is an indication of poor blood circulation. The blood vessels constrict, and the heat that is transported by the blood does not reach the regions where it should heat up, including the hand or foot. Triggers for lack of body heat are often stress or tension, also deficiency symptoms or smoking nicotine. Since the human organism always tries to maintain the temperature of about 37 degrees Celsius, it reacts to temperature fluctuations with endogenous action. In case of hypothermia, for example, it provides less blood flow to the skin, in hands and legs, and reduces heat release by contracting muscles. This creates a chill, which in turn produces new heat.
