ENDOCRINE GLANDS ... HOW THEY AFFECT YOU

e [Music] [Applause] people differ one from the other because of their physical appearance because of their size and shape their personalities differ and their behavior these differences of appearance of personality of behavior are influenced by involved chemical processes within our bodies processes which are regulated by minute quantities of certain substances which are carried by the blood throughout the body these substances are called hormones and they are discharged directly into the bloodstream by a group of glands called ductless or endocrine glands the endocrine glands include the pituitary the thyroid the parathyroids the pineal and thymus glands the islands of langerhans the adrenals and the sex glands the testes in the male and the ovaries in the female the hormone secreted by these endocrine glands play an important role in many of the processes of daily life of all of these glands the pituitary is perhaps the most important one located in the center of the head it is about the size of a PE the pituitary is divided into two lobes the anterior and the posterior lobe the anterior lobe secretes the growth which regulates the rate and the amount of growth of the different parts of the if the pituitary does not function properly abnormalities occur too small an amount of the growth hormone may result in dwarfism too much growth hormone will produce giantism in addition to the growth hormone the anterior lobe of the pituitary also produces hormones which set off hormone produ production by some of the other endocrine glands for example the gonadotropic hormone signals the onset of puberty by stimulating the sex glands to step up their production of the sex hormones in a similar way there is another anterior lobe hormone that stimulates production of adrenal hormones and still another that stimulates the production of a thyroid hormone while the anterior lobe of the pituitary produces a large number of hormones hores 11 have been identified already the posterior lobe is known to produce only two hormones one of these pin has its only known function during childbirth when it stimulates the uterus to begin its rhythmic contractions by means of which the baby is born the second hormone secreted by the posterior lobe of the pituitary is pesin it has a number of functions most of them having to do with metabolism what is metabolism metabolism means the sum total of all the processes which take place in the body and which convert the raw materials we eat drink and breathe into energy or into living tissue to become part of our bone blood muscle skin and so on to make sure that the raw materials in our food are available to the body cells in proper amounts and when needed the body like a well-run factory has a number of control stations the endocrine glands by means of the hormones these glands secrete the amount and the rate of delivery of the VAR materials from the food to the millions of body cells is regulated the pituitary by discharging pesin from its posterior lobe regulates the metabolism of water carbonhydrates and salt so much for the pituitary the next endocrine gland we'll discuss is the thyroid located in the neck region the thyroid gland is one of the largest of the endocrin and yet it may weigh less than 1 o the thyroid consists of two lateral loes one on each side of the windpipe the hormone manufactured and released by it is called thyroxin this hormone controls the speed of metabolism the rate at which the cells do their work work if a greater amount of thyroxin is produced the metabolism process is speeded up if less thyroxin the process slows down a person with a greater amount of thyroxin remains thin no matter how much he eats his food is rapidly used up by his overactive cells such a person is apt to be jittery always on the Move overs supplied with energy on the other hand a person who moves slowly and presents present an impassive appearance is a person with a lesser amount of thyroxin whose rate of metabolism is slowed down the thyroid to function properly needs iodine which must enter the body in food or water if there is not enough iodine in the food the thyroid enlarges seemingly trying to make up for the iodine deficiency and produces what we call a goer in the past goerss were quite common and small goerss were frequently considered a mark of additional Beauty in a woman goerss were found particularly in Inland regions where there was a deficiency of iodine in The Soil and Water since the oceans of the world have a plentiful supply of iodine people living in coastal areas who eat seafood rarely suffer from goerss today goers are rare also in Inland regions because the needed iodine is almost universally included in our diet as part of our regular Kitchen Salt situated behind the thyroid gland are the parathyroids usually four in number and about the size of BB shot little is known about these glands except that the parathyroid hormone has some influence on the calcium metabolism of the body this hormone makes the reserves of calcium stored in the body available for the building of all tissues particularly blood bones and teeth when the parathyroids function improperly calcium is not readily available to the body cells bone and tooth structure will be faulty blood does not clot two more of the endocrine glands are the pineal at the base of the brain and the thymus in the lower portion of the neck less is known about the pineal and the thymus than about any of the other endocrine glands It is believed however that secretions from these two glands have some significance in regulating body growth and sexual development along the lower side of the stomach lies the pancreas it is an organ of digestion not an endocrine gland but scattered through the pancreas are small clumps of cells called the islands of langerhans these clumps of cells are endocrine glands secreting a hormone called insulin insulin discharged into the bloodstream also acts as a control agent the carbohydrates we eat the bread potatoes pastry and sweets are converted by the digestive processes into blood sugar insulin controls the utilization of blood sugar by the body cells if there is an insufficient amount of insulin in the body the blood sugar cannot be utilized by the cells the unused sugar piles up in the blood and a disease called diabetes results the tendency to have this disease is hereditary in years past diabetes was almost inevitably fatal now however insulin is extracted from the glands of animals and most diabetic persons can lead Happ and successful lives by taking periodic injections of insulin another set of endocrine glands in the trunk of the body are the adrenal glands which sit like caps on the kidneys each adrenal gland consists of two parts the outer part the adrenal cortex releases about 30 hormone likee substances at present very little is known about their function The Only Exception is a hormone called cortisone doctors use it to combat certain diseases arthritis for instance the inner part of the adrenal gland the medulla secretes a hormone called adrenaline adrenaline makes the heart beat faster increases the blood pressure and the amount of sugar in the blood all of which together make the body more ready for action in times of emergency this adrenal hormone is sometimes called the fight hormone or emergency hormone when an individual is frightened or angry more adrenaline is released into the bloodstream this gives us the extra energy we need when we're in trouble the last of the endocrine glands to be discussed are the sex glands the testes in the male which produce prod sperm and the ovaries in the female which produce eggs both these glands also produce hormones the male sex hormones stimulate the development and maintenance of masculine characteristics such as the growth of beard and other body hair the deepening of the voice the broadening of the shoulders the ovaries in a similar way produce hormones which stimulate the development of the sex characteristics in a woman in addition the ovates produce a number of hormones which trigger off the various changes occurring at menstruation and the changes which take place with pregnancy so we have seen how the thousands of processes which together make up the intricate thing we call life are constantly regulated by the endocrine system every time we eat or breathe for example hormones secreted by many glands regulate the absorption of materials needed by our body cells there is a complex pattern of interaction among the various endocrine glands for example an increase in the flow of a pituitary hormone the gonadotropic hormone triggers off the production of sex hormones which signals the onset of puberty the onset of puberty is further influenced by increases or decreases in the hormonal flow of practically all the other end glands the adrenals the thyroid and parathyroids the thymus and the pineal interrelated hormonal activity also plays an essential role in the entire process of reproduction and birth the preparation of the womb to receive and nourish the fertilized egg is made possible by the secretion of hormones of the ovaries the adrenal glands the thyroid and the parathyroid at the end of pregnancy pcin secreted by the pituitary stimulates the rhythmic contractions of the uterus to push the new baby into the world while there are still many gaps in our knowledge of the endocrine system new facts about it are being discovered every day we also have learned how to extract many hormones from the glands of animals and use them to treat a large number of human ailments insulin for example secreted by the islands of langerhans one of the first hormones to be produced commercially has saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of diabetics pcin a hormone of the pituitary has been used effectively to Aid pregnant women suffering from unusual conditions at delivery or prolonged Labor Act another pituitary hormone and cortisol a hormone from the adrenal cortex are being used to combat a number of disease conditions including arthritis for instance other hormonal extracts have been effective in limiting the growth of certain forms of cancer yes doctors already know a good deal about the endocrine glands and their hormones and how to correct some of our bodily disturbances caused by an upset in the endocrine balance and as research continues our lives in the future may be profoundly influenced by the momentous discoveries yet to be made in the field of endocrinology [Music] [Applause] [Music]