Physiology by Numbers: An Encouragement to Quantitative Thinking

by Richard F. Burton

• ISBN13: 9780521772006
• ISBN10: 0521772001
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-04-20
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Thinking quantitatively about physiology is something many students find difficult. However, it is fundamentally important to a proper understanding of many of the concepts involved. In this enlarged second edition of his popular textbook, Richard Burton gives the reader the opportunity to develop a feel for values such as ion concentrations, lung and fluid volumes, blood pressures etc. through the use of calculations which require little more than simple arithmetic for their solution. Much guidance is given on how to avoid errors and the usefulness of approximation and 'back-of-envelope sums'. Energy metabolism, nerve and muscle, blood and the cardiovascular system, respiration, renal function, body fluids and acid-base balance are all covered, making this book essential reading for students (and teachers) of physiology everywhere, both those who shy away from numbers and those who revel in them.

Table of Contents

Preface to the second edition	ix
Preface to the first edition	xi
How to use this book	xv
Introduction to physiological calculation: approximation and units	1	(17)
Arithmetic-speed, approximation and error	1	(2)
Units	3	(2)
How attention to units can ease calculations, prevent mistakes and provide a check on formulae	5	(8)
Analysis of units in expressions involving exponents (indices)	13	(2)
Logarithms	15	(3)
Quantifying the body: interrelationships amongst `representative' or `textbook' quantities	18	(9)
Energy and metabolism	27	(21)
Measures of energy	27	(1)
Energy in food and food reserves; relationships between energy and oxygen consumption	28	(2)
Basal metabolic rate	30	(1)
Oxygen in a small dark cell	31	(1)
Energy costs of walking, and of being a student	32	(1)
Fat storage and the control of appetite	33	(1)
Cold drinks, hot drinks, temperature regulation	34	(2)
Oxygen and glucose in blood	36	(1)
Adenosine triphosphate and metabolic efficiency	37	(3)
Basal metabolic rate in relation to body size	40	(3)
Drug dosage and body size	43	(1)
Further aspects of allometry--life span and the heart	44	(2)
The contribution of sodium transport to metabolic rate	46	(1)
Production of metabolic water in human and mouse	46	(2)
The cardiovascular system	48	(17)
Erythrocytes and haematocrit (packed cell volume)	48	(5)
Optimum haematocrit--the viscosity of blood	53	(2)
Peripheral resistance	55	(2)
Blood flow and gas exchange	57	(1)
Arteriolar smooth muscle--the law of Laplace	58	(2)
Extending William Harvey's argument: `what goes in must come out'	60	(1)
The work of the heart	61	(4)
Respiration	65	(27)
Correcting gas volumes for temperature, pressure, humidity and respiratory exchange ratio	65	(5)
Dissolved O2 and CO2 in blood plasma	70	(1)
Pco2 inside cells	70	(2)
Gas tensions at sea level and at altitude	72	(2)
Why are alveolar and arterial Pco2 close to 40 mmHg?	74	(3)
Water loss in expired air	77	(1)
Renewal of alveolar gas	78	(4)
Variations in lung dimensions during breathing	82	(1)
The number of alveoli in a pair of lungs	82	(2)
Surface tensions in the lungs	84	(1)
Pulmonary lymph formation and oedema	85	(4)
The pleural space	89	(3)
Renal function	92	(40)
The composition of the glomerular filtrate	92	(3)
The influence of colloid osmotic pressure on glomerular filtration rate	95	(2)
Glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow; clearances of inulin, para-aminohippurate and drugs	97	(3)
The concentrating of tubular fluid by reabsorption of water	100	(1)
Urea: clearance and reabsorption	101	(3)
Sodium and bicarbonate--rates of filtration and reabsorption	104	(2)
Is fluid reabsorption in the proximal convoluted tubule really isosmotic?	106	(1)
Work performed by the kidneys in sodium reabsorption	107	(2)
Mechanisms of renal sodium reabsorption	109	(3)
Autoregulation of glomerular filtration rate; glomerulotubular balance	112	(1)
Renal regulation of extracellular fluid volume and blood pressure	113	(1)
Daily output of solute in urine	114	(2)
The flow and concentration of urine	116	(3)
Beer drinker's hyponatraemia	119	(1)
The medullary countercurrent mechanism in antidiuresis--applying the principle of mass balance	120	(8)
Renal mitochondria: an exercise involving allometry	128	(4)
Body fluids	132	(27)
The sensitivity of hypothalamic osmoreceptors	132	(1)
Cells as `buffers' of extracellular potassium	133	(1)
Assessing movements of sodium between body compartments--a practical difficulty	134	(2)
The role of bone mineral in the regulation of extracellular calcium and phosphate	136	(2)
The amounts of calcium and bone in the body	138	(2)
The principle of electroneutrality	140	(3)
Donnan equilibrium	143	(2)
Colloid osmotic pressure	145	(3)
Molar and molal concentrations	148	(2)
Osmolarity and osmolality	150	(1)
Gradients of sodium across cell membranes	151	(4)
Membrane potentials--simplifying the Goldman equation	155	(4)
Acid--base balance	159	(26)
pH and hydrogen ion activity	160	(2)
The CO2--HCO3 equilibrium: the Henderson--Hasselbalch equation	162	(4)
Intracellular pH and bicarbonate	166	(3)
Mitochondrial pH	169	(3)
Why bicarbonate concentration does not vary with Pco2 in simple solutions lacking non-bicarbonate buffers	172	(2)
Carbonate ions in body fluids	174	(2)
Buffering of lactic acid	176	(2)
The role of intracellular buffers in the regulation of extracellular pH	178	(4)
The role of bone mineral in acid--base balance	182	(1)
Is there a postprandial alkaline tide?	183	(2)
Nerve and muscle	185	(13)
Myelinated axons--saltatory conduction	185	(2)
Non-myelinated fibres	187	(1)
Musical interlude--a feel for time	188	(2)
Muscular work--chinning the bar, saltatory bushbabies	190	(3)
Creatine phosphate in muscular contraction	193	(1)
Calcium ions and protein filaments in skeletal muscle	194	(4)
Appendix A: Some useful quantities	198	(2)
Appendix B: Exponents and logarithms	200	(5)
References	205	(4)
Notes and Answers	209	(23)
Index	232