Two of these 14 major components of homeostasis are feedback loops. Feedback loops are systems of loops that cause the body to respond to a disturbance in its delicate balance of its major processes and hormones, or otherwise known as perturbation and the body's ability to respond in the same or a different direction, called respectively positive and negative feedback loops. Positive and negative feedback loops are an essential part of the homeostasis process as feedback loops are the actual part of creating and maintaining balance within our body. Positive feedback loops are feedbacks by which the body responds to the specific perturbation it is influencing in the same direction as the perturbation. This type of feedback loop has a sporadic outcome compared to its counterpart because it goes in the same direction as the perturbation. In doing so, this amplifies changes, thus moving the system away from an equilibrium state. A real world example of this (as also seen in Exhibit 1) is in the form of Toxicodendron radicans, or more popularly known as poison ivy. In this example a rash develops from contact with poison ivy. It itches and so you, despite your better judgment, scratch it. Subsequently it starts to itch more and therefore you scratch more causing the rash to grow exponentially in other places where it has never been scratched before. This exemplifies positive feedback loops by showing that by scratching the rash, you have influenced it in the same direction as the perturbation leading to an amplified change in the original perturbation and ultimately thrown out of the way any possibility of an equilibrium state in the immediate future . In contrast to positive feedback loops, negative feedback loops are the feedback through which the...... center of the card ......action in the body; the lower the concentration, the more ADH is released, and the higher the concentration, the less ADH is released. Another way that homeostasis is maintained throughout the body is through calcium levels and occurs through the processes of osteoclasts and osteoblasts. The hormones involved in this process are parathyroid hormone (PTH) and calcitonin. The organs involved are the parathyroid gland, the thyroid, the kidneys and the small intestine. When there is insufficient calcium released by the kidneys into the bloodstream, the parathyroid gland secretes PTH to stimulate the kidneys to initiate osteoclasts to make the kidneys inhibit the kidneys' calcium secretion and allow the small intestine to increase calcium absorption. The opposite happens when there is an excess in calcium levels in the blood.