The new edition of this popular text continues to present homeostasis as a dynamic concept that provides the basis for understanding health and well-being, and to recognise how failure to respond to homeostatic disturbances results in imbalances responsible for signs and symptoms of ill-health, and how healthcare interventions seek to reverse those imbalances. It provides an integrated explanation of body functioning, with description of related anatomy. The book is divided into six major sections: organisation of the human body, main features and processes that must be controlled for health, the organ systems that act as homeostatic regulators, effectors of homeostatic regulation, influences on homeostasis, and case studies that place examples of ill-health and health care into the context of homeostasis. This new edition has been updated and extended. New material includes: Overview of microbiology, and principles of infection management. Extended information on pharmacological principles, and actions of the major classes of drugs. Extended application of physiological functions in relation to specific pathologies, and examples of health care. Updates on how the Human Genome project is beginning to impact on health care. More case studies to illustrate the health carer's role as an external agent of homeostatic control. Photographs of common clinical conditions. Accompanying website http://cw.tandf.co.uk/physiologyandanatomy/