Homeostasis--the key concept to physiological control. Surgery, stress and metabolic homeostasis

In this series of articles we have illustrated how physiological processes enable adaptation to changing situations such as those associated with surgery. Homeostasis has formed the central theme for relating physiology to well being, and the articles have largely been concerned with the homeostatic regulation of specific systems or processes within the body (a list of articles in the series is provided at the end of this one). This final article maintains the theme but is concerned with the broader, whole-body responses that occur when the body is subjected to the trauma of surgery. Some of these responses have briefly been touched upon in earlier articles, but are expanded upon here to illustrate the adaptability of metabolic homeostasis when the body has been injured.