Research Update
The AV Shunts Help Balance Our Body Temperature and Metabolism
T
he circulatory system of our
body works much the same
way to regulate our body temperature. For us, it is extremely
important to maintain a constant internal (core) body temperature (98.6o) for our most
delicate organs to work properly.
A sustained decrease (hypothermia) or increase (hyperthermia
and fevers) of just a few degrees
can permanently damage the
brain, kidneys and liver. So how
do we maintain our core body
temperature?
F
or starters, our blood is the
coolant and our heart is the
pump. So where is the engine?
The engine is mostly our muscles. For the most part, our
organs such as the kidney, liver
and brain don’t generate a lot of
heat, but our muscles do through
physical exertion.
S
o here is the challenge to the
proper functioning of our body.
Just like a properly functioning
car, we need to maintain a safe
temperature depending upon
whether the air temperature is hot
causing us to absorb heat from our
environment and become overheated (hyperthermia), or whether
it is cold causing us to lose heat
and risk hypothermia. At the same
time we have to balance this with
the heat that builds up within our
muscles when we exercise.
B
ut, we are also a lot more
complicated than a car. Our
blood is not only our coolant, it
is also our source of nutrition.
So, when we wake up and become
active, we need to increase blood
flow to provide more nutrition
to our muscles, but when heat
starts to build up in the muscles
we need to shift more blood flow
to our hands and feet to get rid
of the excess heat. So we have to
find just the right balancing act
to provide sufficient nutrition
without building up too much
heat. Wow! So blood flow has to
be constantly shifted between
the muscles and the skin to
achieve the right balance. Our
delicate organs are caught in the
middle.
F
ortunately, unlike delicate internal organs, the muscles and
skin can withstand wide fluctuations in temperature and blood
flow, so maintaining a constant
core body temperature mostly
involves balancing the blood flow
between our muscles and skin.
The skin can heat up by diverting
blood flow from the muscles to
get rid of heat, or skin can cool
down to divert blood flow to the
muscles to conserve heat.
S
o we can see the parallels between our cooling system and
that of our car. We have accoun ѕ