Basics Flashcards
1
Q
What is chemical coordination?
A
- a slow, prolonged process of communicating information throughout the body by way of chemicals called hormones
2
Q
What is a hormone?
A
- an organic chemical substance, usually a protein but sometimes a steroid
- secreted by an endocrine gland and carried in the bloodstream to its target organ/s
- where it regulates metabolic reactions
3
Q
Why do hormones not last long in the body?
A
- they are broken down by enzymes
4
Q
What is a target organ?
A
- specific cells that respond to a given hormone and have receptor sites for that hormone
5
Q
What is an endocrine gland?
A
- a vascular, ductless gland that secretes hormones
- which are carried in the bloodstream to their target organs
6
Q
What does vascular mean?
A
- richly supplied with blood vessels
7
Q
How do exo- and endocrine glands differ?
A
- the secretions of an exocrine gland are carried in ducts to where they are needed
- endocrine glands do not have ducts and their secretions are carried in the bloodstream to their target organs
8
Q
What are the endocrine glands in the body?
A
- hypothalamus
- pituitary gland
- thyroid gland
- Islets of Langerhans
- adrenal glands
