Have you ever ask yourself why do most children choose their
moms over their dads? Why do others have white complexion while others suffer
from dark one? Why do you feel such excitement when you’re in love? Why do
women experience mood swings in their menstrual period? Why do some people are
taller than you? How come you eat too little then you gains weight a lot? Maybe
you already experienced that when you fall in love or your crush
smiles at you, your palms sweat, you can stutter and
it feels like you have butterflies in your stomachs. All
these questions that jog in your mind can be answered by eight letters. If your
thinking about HORMONES and your just right. Yes! It’s all about hormones to be
blame.
Maybe you already wonder why all these stuffs are all about
hormones. For better understanding, first let’s define what is hormone. Hormone
is the substance secreted by the specific organs making up the Endocrine
System. But what is Endocrine System? Cliché as it may sound, “No man is an
island”. As the word system implies it
is the bunch or collection of different organs located in various parts of the
body that are working simultaneously as response to the changes that occurs
somewhere in the body. And the study that deals with this is called
Endocrinology. As I knew it, Endocrinology is a network of signals that are too
busy regulating different biochemical processes in the body. This is what keeps
you growing, developing, and working the way it supposed to. It secretes
hormones that influence almost every cell, organ and function of our body. It’s
like a race trying to aim for the finish line. In which, the racers serve as
the signals or the hormones aiming for the site of action in the body to convey
their functions.
To understand further, just click the play button of this
video clip.
What makes hormones unique is that it has different kinds
that function for a specific stimulus. Sometimes hormones can overlap to its
function and work together for changes to occur. Thus, to be able to identify,
hormones are classified either on structure and tissue origin. Some are
responsible for growth, emotions, metabolism, secondary characteristics and
homeostasis. But not all came up to be good, sometimes when these network of
signals is disrupted like changes in
hormone patterns and trouble of the endocrine process this can lead to problems
and can result in a disease.
Have you ever wondered why there are people that are too
small (pygmy) or too tall (gigantism)? Once again it’s due to hormones. In this
picture it shows that the person is suffering from gigantism. Gigantism is due to the excess release of growth hormone during childhood, before the epiphyseal plate (bone growth plate) have closed. Thus, resulting in abnormal growth or gigantism.
Indeed, it is still hormone that makes you feel excited,
blush, sweat when you see your crush, what makes your brother/sister taller
than you and what makes you feel emotional. And sometimes, in the worse side,
to have disorders like for example gigantism, goiter, and Cushing syndrome and
so on.
References:
Donald F. Calbreath, Clinical Chemistry A Fundamental Textbook
Catherine B. Niewoehner, Endocrine Pathophysiology: 2nd Edition
Nussey S. Whitehead, Endocrinology: Integrated Approach
Photo credit:
What I had written here is just brief information about Endocrinology;
I suggest you read more books for further understanding and to learn more about
Endocrinology. For the next topic to be discussed it’s all about toxicology and
its division.
References:
Donald F. Calbreath, Clinical Chemistry A Fundamental Textbook
Catherine B. Niewoehner, Endocrine Pathophysiology: 2nd Edition
Nussey S. Whitehead, Endocrinology: Integrated Approach
Photo credit:
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