INTRODUCTION OF THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
This is the human endocrine system. It is one of the ways the human body sends information from one cell to another. The foundations of endocrine system are the glands and hormones. the picture above shows the glands present in a human body. Let us talk about it one by one:
1. PITUITARY GLAND: The pituitary gland is located inside the head. It is divided into two parts, the anterior lobe and the posterior lobe. The anterior lobe regulates the activity of the activity of the thyroid, adrenals, and reproductive glands. While the posterior lobe releases antidiuretic hormone (ADH), which responsible for body water potential, and oxytocin.
2. PINEAL GLAND: The pineal gland is located in the middle of the brain. It secretes melatonin, a hormone that may help regulate the wake-sleep cycle.
3. THYROID GLAND and parathyroid gland (not in the diagram): The thyroid is located in the front part of the lower neck. It is shaped like a butterfly. It produces the thyroid hormone. If the number of thyroid hormones is produced, means the faster the chemical reactions inside the body occur. And there are four glands, which are the parathyroid glands that attached and function together with the thyroid gland.
4. ADRENAL GLAND: a human body has two adrenal glands, one on top of each kidney. This gland secretes adrenaline hormones which increase blood pressure and heart rate when the body experiences stress (anger, anxiety, etc).
5. PANCREAS: Pancreas contains the islets of Langerhans which produces the insulin and glucagon hormones. These hormones responsible for the body glucose level.
6. TESTIS: Testis is the male reproductive gland and produces sperms.
7. OVARY: Ovary is the female reproductive gland and produces eggs.
WHAT THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM DOES
Once a hormone is secreted, it travels from the endocrine gland through the bloodstream to target cells designed to receive its message. Along the way to the target cells, special proteins bind to some of the hormones. The special proteins act as carriers that control the amount of hormone that is available to interact with and affect the target cells.
Also, the target cells have receptors that latch onto only specific hormones, and each hormone has its own receptor, so that each hormone will communicate only with specific target cells that possess receptors for that hormone. When the hormone reaches its target cell, it locks onto the cell's specific receptors and these hormone-receptor combinations transmit chemical instructions to the inner workings of the cell.
When hormone levels reach a certain normal or necessary amount, further secretion is controlled by important body mechanisms to maintain that level of hormone in the blood. This regulation of hormone secretion may involve the hormone itself or another substances in the blood related to the hormone.
For example, if the thyroid gland has secreted adequate amounts of thyroid hormones into the blood, the pituitary gland senses the normal levels of thyroid hormone in the bloodstream and adjusts its release of thyrotropin, the pituitary hormone that stimulates the thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormones.
You can see this video link to have a further understanding about the human endocrine system:
THE DISORDERS OF ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
After we know about what the endocrine system is, lets talk about their diseases. There are some diseases that are caused by glands.
First, is thyroid diseases.
It separated into two, which is hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. Meanwhile, in this discussion, we are going to focus more on the hypothyroidism.
Hyperthyroidism is when the thyroid produces too many thyroid hormones. Here are some symptoms if a people experience hyperthyroidism. They will experience weight loss, nervousness, excess sweating, and their neck would be swollen as the impact from the thyroid gland.
Hypothyroidism is when the thyroid produces too small amount of thyroid hormones. Here are some symptoms if a people experience hypothyroidism. Since it slows down body processes, it will cause them to experience weight gain, dry skin, and even delayed puberty as well in kids or some teenagers. And if kids experience this, they will not have enough GH or growing hormones, they will experience slow growth.
It is caused by an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto's thyroiditis. With Hashimoto's thyroiditis, antibodies attack the thyroid and keep it from producing enough hormones instead of protecting thebody againts the viruses.Birth defects, radiation to the gland, overstressed, high fluoride level, and high chlorine level are also the other possible causes.
Short prevention for this;
1) Avoid consuming to much sugar and junk food.
2) Stay away from consuming too much alcohol, caffeine, and smoking as they decrease the immunity and may hamper the thyroid's function.
3) Consume raw food such as sprouts, salads, vegetable juices, or fruits may help the body to recover, but decrease the consumption of Goitrogens like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, or soya.
4) Fish, kelp, seaweed, raw nuts are beneficial is Hypothyroidism.
2) Stay away from consuming too much alcohol, caffeine, and smoking as they decrease the immunity and may hamper the thyroid's function.
3) Consume raw food such as sprouts, salads, vegetable juices, or fruits may help the body to recover, but decrease the consumption of Goitrogens like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, or soya.
4) Fish, kelp, seaweed, raw nuts are beneficial is Hypothyroidism.
5) Foods used in the treatment of low levels of thyroid should be rich in vitamin A, vitamin E, B complex, vitamin C, zinc, iodine etc.
5) Many more! Check out the link below, this was only the summary.Even though there are certain factors which may lead to diabetes, the actual causes may still not be clear. Some of the factors affecting diabetes are diet, obesity, viruses which destruct the Beta cells (ex; Coxsackie B virus), age, emotional stress, and definitely smoking!
We can actually find lots of preventions to the Diabetes sickness. Here are just the most common advices that people tell you to do. First, maintain a good diet. Such that, control your consumption of food containing much sugar and eat healthy vegetables. Eating properly will affect your weight as obesity is one of the factor of diabetes. Second, exercise properly! Morning jog can be a simple example. Do it every day, and you'll raise your metabolic rate, as well as level out your blood sugar. Keeping a fit body will also decrease the possibility of having diabetes.
-Jessica Giovanni, Valensia Aprillia, & Prinka Anandawadhani-
