Walter Bradford Cannon (1871-1945) was an American physiologist. 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Physiology (in Greek physis = nature and logos = word) is the study of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of living organisms. ...

Use of salts of heavy metals in X-Rays

He was one of the first researchers to mix salts of heavy metals (including bismuth subnitrate, bismuth oxychloride, and barium sulfate) into foodstuffs in order to improve the contrast of X-ray images of the digestive tract. The barium meal is a modern derivative of this research. A magnified crystal of salt In chemistry, salt is a term used for ionic compounds composed of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, so that the product is neutral and without a net charge. ... The term heavy metal may have various more general or more specific meanings. ... In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... Preprepared Barium Sulfate suspension for oral consumption A barium meal is a procedure in which barium sulfate is ingested by a patient and, in conjunction with X-rays, images depicting the digestive system: the distal esophagus, stomach and duodenum, are obtained. ...

Fight or Flight

In 1929, he coined the term fight or flight to describe an animal's response to threats.-1... This article or section should include material from Fight-or-flight The flight or fight response, also called the acute stress response, was first described by Walter Cannon in the 1920s as a theory that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system. ...

Homeostasis

He developed the concept of homeostasis, and popularised it in his book The Wisdom of the Body, published in 1932 by W. W. Norton, New York. Homeostasis is the property of an open system, especially living organisms, to regulate its internal environment to maintain a stable, constant condition, by means of multiple dynamic equilibrium adjustments, controlled by interrelated regulation mechanisms. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) is a leap year starting on Friday. ...

Cannon presented four tentative propositions to describe the general features of homeostasis:

1. Constancy in an open system, such as our bodies represent, requires mechanisms that act to maintain this constancy. Cannon based this proposition on insights into the ways by which steady states such as glucose concentrations, body temperature, and acid-base balance were regulated.
2. Steady-state conditions require that any tendency toward change automatically meets with factors that resist change. An increase in blood sugar results in thirst as the body attempts to dilute the concentration of sugar in the extracellular fluid.
3. The regulating system that determines the homeostatic state consists of a number of cooperating mechanisms acting simultaneously or successively. Blood sugar is regulated by insulin, glucagons, and other hormones that control its release from the liver or its uptake by the tissues.
4. Homeostasis does not occur by chance, but is the result of organized self-government.

Dry Mouth

He made a basic theory called Dry Mouth Theory, in which he said people get thirsty because their mouth gets dry. He did an experiment on two dogs. He cut their throat and injected a small tube. Then he would water in their mouth and every time the water would through the tube, but in their mouths. He found out that these would lap up the same amount of water.

American Physiological Society

He was President of the American Physiological Society from 1914 to 1916. 1914 (MCMXIV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ...

Books

His books include The wisdom of the Body, Traumatic Shock, The Way Of An Investigator : A Scientist's Experiences In Medical Research, Autonomic Neuro-Effector Systems, An Account Of Recent Researches Into The Function Of Bodily Changes In Pain, Hunger, Fear, And Rage and A Laboratory Course In Physiology.

External links

• 6th APS President at the Americal Physiological Society.
• Walter Bradford Cannon: Experimental Physiologist, a biographical article by Edric Lescouflair, dated 2003.
• Chapter 9 of Explorers of the body, by Steven Lehrer (contains information about X ray experiments).