What does Poikilothermia mean?
Definition of poikilotherm : an organism (such as a frog) with a variable body temperature that tends to fluctuate with and is similar to or slightly higher than the temperature of its environment : a cold-blooded organism.
What is the medical term for Poikilothermia?
Definition of poikilothermia noun. Medicine/Medical. the inability to regulate core body temperature (as by sweating to cool off or by putting on clothes to warm up), found especially in some spinal cord injury patients and in patients under general anesthesia. Zoology. poikilothermism.
What causes Poikilothermia?
Common causes of poikilothermia are hypothalamic lesions or thyroid disorders.
What is the difference between ectothermic and Poikilothermic?
ectotherm: An animal that relies on external environment to regulate its internal body temperature. poikilotherm: An animal that varies its internal body temperature within a wide range of temperatures, usually as a result of variation in the environmental temperature.
What is Poikilothermia and spinal cord injury?
Poikilothermia, which is the inability to regulate core body temperature is common among individuals with a spinal cord injury and individuals with a lesion at T6 or above are prone to fluctuating temperature, hypothermia and hyperthermia, which are potentially fatal complications of exposure to environmental extremes.
Which part of the human body regulates temperature?
the hypothalamus
Much like a thermostat regulates the temperature inside your home, the hypothalamus regulates your body temperature, responding to internal and external stimuli and making adjustments to keep the body within one or two degrees of 98.6 degrees.
Are Poikilothermic cold blooded?
Cold-blooded animals (poikilotherms) have less physiological control of their heat balance but can seek shade, sun, or shelter from the wind to alter energy gains and losses. In this chapter each term of the animal heat balance equation is reviewed.
Are humans Poikilothermic?
No, humans are homeotherms.
Are poikilothermic cold-blooded?
What is the meaning of poikilothermic?
1. an animal that exhibits poikilothermy; a cold-blooded animal. 2. ectotherm. Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved. A poikilothermic animal. n.
What is the meaning of poi-Kuh-Loh?
[poi-kuh-loh-thur-mee-uh, poi-kil-uh-] noun. Medicine/Medical . the inability to regulate core body temperature (as by sweating to cool off or by putting on clothes to warm up), found especially in some spinal cord injury patients and in patients under general anesthesia.
How does temperature affect poikilothermic animals?
Poikilothermic (cold-blooded) animals are clearly dependent on the environmental temperature, as their metabolic processes are directly influenced by the external temperature: If it is cold, these processes are slower and the successive phases of the annual cycle are retarded; when it is hot, they speed up.
What is the meaning of heterothermic?
1. Varying in temperature according to the temperature of the surrounding medium; denoting the so-called cold-blooded animals, such as the reptiles and amphibians, and the plants. 2. Capable of existence and growth in media of varying temperatures. Compare: heterothermic, homeothermic.