Sleep Apnea Changes In Homeostasis

A good nights sleep is vital to a healthy lifestyle, however interruptions throughout the night can cause serious consequences to mental and physical health. Homeostasis is defined as maintaining a relatively constant internal environment. Multiple functions to maintain homeostasis of the human body are carried out through the recommend ninterrupted eight hours of sleep for an adult. One of the functions is a reduction of blood pressure[1]. However there is common sleep disorder which repeated involuntarily interrupts the sleep cycle. This condition is known as sleep apnea. Sleep apnea disrupts specific homeostatic processes of blood pressure, which could eventually lead to heart disease or failure.
Hypertension (high blood pressure) represents a failure in homeostasis. Blood pressure acts as a regulated variable for the heart rate. Sleep apnea can cause an imbalance in this variable. The pauses in normal breathing triggers an alarm to initiate vasoconstriction to pump blood to vital organs quickly. Changes to this variable results in the body initiating a negative feed back loop to maintain homeostasis. Peripheral …show more content…
The chemoreceptor responds by sending a message to the medulla oblongata [3]. The medulla oblongata acts as a control center for the autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic branch of the (ANS) carries an output messages to stimulate vasoconstriction in the heart. Baroreceptor reflux is a homeostatic mechanism to detect changes in pressure, and adjust heart rate [4]. Increased blood pressure from vasoconstriction sends signals to the baroreceptors to decrease heart rate, resulting in lower blood pressure. Over time, narrowed arteries due to vasoconstriction will not allow proper blood flow within the body. With out proper blood flow body systems begin to