What is the endocrine system?

The endocrine system is a collection of glands and organs that produce and regulate hormones in the bloodstream to control many body functions. This system overlaps with the nervous system and exocrine system and its duties include metabolism, growth and sexual development. Most animals that have advanced physiology such as vertebrates and crustaceans have an endocrine system.

glands

The main glands of the endocrine system are the pituitary gland, hypothalm and pineal gland in the brain; thyroid and parathyroids in the throat; thymus, adrenal glands and pancreas in the abdomen; And Gonady - either ovaries or testicles - in the lower belly. To a lesser extent, hormones are involved in organs such as heart, lungs and stomach. The endocrine system of a person controls a lot of things, for example, when it falls asleep and when one reaches its height of adults.

hormones

THAT hormones are produced in body glands that function as reports. As with other types of communication, the correct message must achievea stinged goal to be effective. For this reason, some hormones are designed to end only in certain cells called target cells.

After the hormone has reached the correct cell, it refers to the receptor that informs the cell to do what to do. For example, it would be said to start producing energy from sugar or running ovulation. However, the hormone will not disrupt the non -target cell and the target cell will not respond to any chemical other than its special hormone. At the beginning of 2012, scientists did not fully understand the role of all hormones, but they knew that hormones were important for maintaining homeostasis - a healthy balanced state in the body.

hormones produced by these glands are too numerous and complicate the leaf. For example, pituitary gland is often called the main gland because it controls the functioning of other members of the endocrine system. Pineal Glands produces melatonin, which regulates the sleeping cycles of people. Spankreas forIt duks insulin, which controls how much sugar it constantly circulates in the bloodstream.

Regulatory cycles

The

endocrine system can be considered a system that determines the body cycles such as reproductive cycles, sleep cycles and nutrition cycles. People do not have to eat at perfectly distributed intervals to have a constant supply of energy, nor do they have the same level of fertility throughout their lives. The endocrine system regulates these cycles to ensure that the body has the appropriate amount of energy and the correct level of fertility. It is also responsible for long -term development, such as bone growth and a short -term cycle phase such as hunger.