Hormones in the body

The Pineal gland is a small gland located in the middle of the brain. Its function is to secrete melatonin, the hormone that regulates your wake-sleep cycle. As it controls this sleep pattern, any change it its quantity might well change the sleep pattern. But do remember that the body is very good at adjusting its needs. It is also thought to delay sexual maturity until the body is ready for reproduction. Little is known about the actual activities of melatonin. For a while, everyone seemed to be using it, but I would use it very cautiously. A healthy body should produce adequate amounts. The Pituitary gland is called the master gland. It is found at the base of the brain, near another important gland, the hypothalamus. It plays a central role in regulating the secretions from many other hormone-secreting glands of the body. It is very small (pea-size) in relation to some structures of equal importance, i.e. the heart. It influences so many areas of the body! Directly and indirectly it controls your growth, urine production, blood chemistry and reproductive activities. It also stimulates the growth of bone and other body tissues. It plays a role in the body's handling of nutrients and mineral in electrolyte balance. It stimulates the thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormones and it stimulates the adrenal glands to produce other hormones. It triggers the contractions of the uterus that occur during labor and activates milk production at birth. You can see how it affects so many areas of your body. The hypothalamus is located in the lower part of the central of the brain, just above the pituitary gland. It is the primary link between the endocrine (hormones) system and the nervous system. This makes it a very important hormone. It activates and controls the part of the nervous system that in turn controls involuntary body functions, the hormonal system, regulating sleep and appetite and body temperature and others body processes. Remember that it isn’t the gland that does this work: it’s the hormone (messenger). This is done by producing chemicals that either stimulate or suppress hormone secretions from the pituitary. (It seems to regulate the regulator.) You can appreciate if this hormone is out of balance, the messages would be much distorted. For example, getting messages not to eat as much or to eat more, could result in unhealthy body weights. Or you would be sleeping too little or too much. Or you could get incorrect messages that your body temperature is too hot or too cold when in fact it is just comfortable. The thyroid is situated in the front of your neck and cushions the parathyroid glands. Feel your way down your throat (trachea), and come to the space just above the V. stay on the “rings” and you will feel the thyroid gland. If it’s in good working order (and that’s what you want,) you would need to guess at the exact location. It is soft and blends into the throat area. The thyroid is responsible for growth hormones (can you see how there is much cross-over in hormonal activities?) Not only do these control growth of your body, but also the growth of your cells. Two important hormones are secreted by the thyroid gland: thyroxine and thyrocalcitonin. They are common in our medical language now. Thyroxine helps to regulate the metabolic rate of all body cells. This is the rate at which cells burn fuels from food to produce energy. Metabolism is the physical and chemical processes and reactions happening in your body. It is the generation of heat and energy by your cells. Energy production is important as it relates to the ability of your cells to use oxygen. And you know that oxygen is essential for life. Thyrocalcitonin helps regulate the calcium (and phosphorous) levels, mainly in the bones of your body. (This has to do with balance of the electrolyte system in your body.) Parathyroid glands are like four little buttons attached to the front of the thyroid gland. These function together and are called the parathyroids. They release the parathormone hormone, which, with the help of thyrocalcitonin (from the thyroid gland), regulates the level of calcium and phosphorus in the blood. This has to do with electrolyte balance. This system is essential for the chemical functioning of your body. Know that your body craves balance. This is the system that maintains it and this is called homeostasis. Two common problems in your body that can create this imbalance are too much salt and too little potassium. Too much salt causes fluid to be retained in your body, most often in your legs, and is identified as swelling. It can also cause fluids to be retained in your lungs, causing respiratory “distress”. This imbalance is often corrected by drawing off the fluid. However, this might then cause a depletion of potassium that goes along with the salt (sodium). A low potassium level can lead to slow heart rates, weakness, and lack of motivation. It may also cause arrhythmias (abnormal heart beats) because of chemical imbalances that may be caused in the heart’s electrical system. Thymus: the thymus is a gland needed early in life for normal immune development and function. The thymus gland secretes hormones called “humoral factors”. These hormones help to develop the lymphatic system. This is the system throughout your body that helps it to reach a mature immune response in cells to protect them from invading bodies, like bacteria, viruses and other intruders. The thymus hormone, thymosin, is responsible for the growth and development of the lymphocytes, which are becoming more researched and known to be important. Adrenals: Your adrenals are very important in your life. You have two. One lies on the top of each kidney. If you don’t know where your kidneys are, run your hand to the bottom of your ribs at your back. Then run your hand up from the hip on the same side: in between lie your kidneys. You have to use your imagination a bit, but if you were having kidney surgery, you would be placed on your side and a little bar would be elevated under this area to “expose” that portion of the kidney. Each adrenal gland has two distinctive parts: the cortex and the medulla. I will digress here for a moment to show how important medical terminology is and how it can pinpoint a location. The word cortex will be adjusted to “corti” or “cortico” or “cortical”. They all give a hint that this word is somehow related to the outer part of something: and in this case the adrenals. It immediately gives the health professional some insight and knowledge of what “thread” or subject to look for next. Medical terminology says a lot in a few words! Each produces different hormones and each has a different function. (Some medical texts divide this into three parts, but that's too complex for our needs.) Together both parts produce hormones such as the precursors to male & female sex hormones, glucocorticoid hormones, and mineralocorticoid hormones and chemicals such as adrenalin and dopamine. Situations where the glands produce either too many or too few hormones than required by your body, is where you can run into health problems. Pancreas: Your body needs fuel to run. This process is called metabolism. Without it you cannot live. You eat an egg with some toast, but your body cannot use the egg and toast in that form. So it needs to be transformed into something that can be transported by your blood stream to each and every cell in your body. (You can't have an egg on a piece of toast flowing through your bloodstream.) Reproductive Hormones: The hormones, that are responsible for reproduction, come from two sets of glands and as a group they are called the gonads. In the female they are the ovaries and in the male they are testes.