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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 human body always works to remain in homeostasis. One form of homeostasis is thermoregulation. Body temperature varies in every individual, but the average internal temperature is 37.0 °C (98.6 °F). [1] Sufficient stress from extreme external temperature may cause injury or death if it exceeds the ability of the body to thermoregulate.
Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature as its own body temperature, thus avoiding the need for internal thermoregulation.
The psychrometric temperature, of which the wet-bulb temperature is the main component, largely limits thermoregulation. It was thought that a wet-bulb temperature of about 35 °C (95 °F) was the highest sustained value consistent with human life.
The resting human body generates about two-thirds of its heat through metabolism in internal organs in the thorax and abdomen, as well as in the brain. The brain generates about 16% of the total heat produced by the body. [8] Heat loss is a major threat to smaller creatures, as they have a larger ratio of surface area to volume.
Key to maintaining homeostasis, individual thermoregulation is the ability to maintain internal body temperature in humans, the most recognizable eurytherm. In humans, deep-body temperature is regulated by cutaneous blood flow, which maintains this temperature despite changes in the external environment. [24]
Hyperthermia, also known simply as overheating, is a condition in which an individual's body temperature is elevated beyond normal due to failed thermoregulation.The person's body produces or absorbs more heat than it dissipates.
In general, warm-bloodedness refers to three separate categories of thermoregulation. 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.