Homeostasis and allostasis
GAO Feng1,*, YU Meng-Sun2
1School of Aerospace Medicine, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi’an 710032, China;2Characteristic Medical Center, Air Force Military Medical University, Beijing 100142, China
Abstract
Homeostasis is a core concept of physiology, which reveals that internal environmental stability is the basis of life activities and their functional regulation, and allostasis emphasizes that the body has stability and flexibility at the same time. New homeostasis can be established to maintain healthy. The introduction of allostasis concept extends the classical physiological homeostasis from a more macroscopic perspective to a new level in which the body adapts to environmental changes and maintains healthy, which is a supplement and perfection to the classical homeostasis theory. This paper introduces the concept of homeostasis and allostasis, as well as its development history, analyzes the differences and connections between the two concepts, and focuses on the relationship between allostasis load and stress, adaptation and disease, and how to apply allostasis mechanisms to promote health and improve the ability of the body to adapt to extreme environments.
Key words: homeostasis; allostasis; stress; adaption; allostasis load
Received: 2020-03-10 Accepted: 2020-06-02
Corresponding author: 高峰 E-mail: fgao@fmmu.edu.cn
DOI: 10.13294/j.aps.2020.0062
Citing This Article:
GAO Feng, YU Meng-Sun. Homeostasis and allostasis. Acta Physiol Sin 2020; 72 (5): 677-681 (in Chinese with English abstract).