Endocrine Flashcards
What do the endocrine and nervous systems do?
Coordinate and direct the activity of the body’s cells.
What differentiates the nervous system from the endocrine system?
The speed of control
Is nervous system or endocrine system slower?
Endocrine
What does the endocrine system use to send messages?
Chemical messengers called hormones
What do the hormones do?
They are released into the blood to be transported leisurely throughout the body
What do the hormones contain?
Calcium, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen
How do hormones work?
Chemical substances secreted by cells into the extracellular fluids regulate the the metabolic activity of cells in the body
What two things are hormones classified by?
Amino acid-based molecules (including proteins, peptides and amines) and steroids
What is the third chemical class of hormones?
Prostaglandins
What are prostaglandins made from?
Highly active lipids found in the cell’s plasma membrane
What are target cells or target organs?
Although the blood-borne hormones circulate to all the organs of the body, a given hormone affects only certain tissue cells or organs
What word does the term hormone come from? And why?
The greek word meaning “to arouse”, hormones do just that
Why do hormones mean “to arouse”?
They arouse or bring about their effects on the body’s cells primarily by altering cellular activity
How many mechanisms by which hormones trigger changes in cells are there?
2
What kind of mechanism do steroidal hormones use?
Direct gene activation
What kind of glands are endocrine glands?
Ductless glands
What do endocrine glands release hormones into?
Blood and Lymph
How big is the pituitary gland?
The size of a grape
What is the pituitary gland hung by?
It hangs by a stalk from the inferior surface of the hypothalamus of the brain
What is the pituitary gland surrounded by?
It is snugly surrounded by the “Turk’s Saddle” of the sphenoid bone
What are the two functional lobes of the pituitary gland?
The anterior pituitary and the posterior pituitary
What kind of tissue does the anterior pituitary have?
Glandular tissue
What kind of tissue does the posterior pituitary have?
Nervous tissue
What are tropic hormones?
Hormones that stimulate their target organs