About The Endocrine System

An informative article on: About The Endocrine System.

The human body is comprised of 10 major systems, among which is the endocrine system which is responsible for communication between cells to regulate function. When the endocrine system isn’t functioning properly, it would be much like talking on a cell phone when the call is dropped. Either the message isn’t getting sent or the receiver isn’t picking up the signal, or perhaps the tower (transport system) in between has gone down. Without communication, cells are not able to function as they should. Learning about the endocrine system is vital in understanding how the body functions as a single unit.

The Glands that Make Up the Endocrine System

The glands that comprise the endocrine system in humans are the thyroid, hypothalamus, pituitary, parathyroids, pineal, thymus, adrenal, pancreas, testes, ovaries and placenta. However, there are other organs that act as secondary endocrine glands and they are the heart, liver, stomach, small intestine, kidney and skin. Each of these glands/organs secretes hormones that regulate specific functions within the body. The secondary endocrine ‘glands’ do secrete hormones, but that is their secondary and not their primary function. As an example, the kidneys’ primary function is to filter toxins from the urine; however, it also secretes a hormone called renin which is why kidney failure is often referred to as renal failure.

Hormones Secreted by Endocrine System

While most of us are familiar with testosterone (a male hormone secreted by the testes) and estrogen (which is the female hormone), there is a myriad of other hormones that signal function to literally every cell in the body. For instance, insulin secreted by the pancreas is responsible for the metabolism of sugar and fat while adrenaline secreted by the adrenal medulla is responsible for that quick boost of energy commonly referred to as the ‘fight-or-flight’ response. Oddly enough, many of us relate specific disorders with the hormone rather than the gland that fails to secrete sufficient amounts of it, or in many cases secretes too much of it. This is the case of diabetes. We treat it with insulin, refer to it as having ‘sugar’ or ‘sugar diabetes’ and not as an illness of the pancreas.

Endocrinology - Diagnosis and Treatment of Disorders

The study of diseases and disorders of the endocrine system is called endocrinology, which is a branch of internal medicine. An endocrinologist is the specialist whose field it is to diagnose and prescribe treatment. For instance, when a patient is diagnosed with an under active thyroid, hypothyroidism, they are lacking hormones that control metabolism and are prone to varying amounts of weight gain depending on the severity of the condition. An endocrinologist will make the diagnosis and prescribe the appropriate hormone therapy and/or medical or surgical intervention to try to correct the problem.

This is just an extremely simplistic look at the endocrine system in order to get an understanding of how cells communicate with each other through hormones in order to keep the body operating as it should. Along with the nervous system, the endocrine system works to signal responses needed to carry out specific functions on a cellular level.