Endocrine Disorders Flashcards
Describe normal homeostasis in relation to glands?
In order for a gland to produce hormones it will receive a stimuli. When the hormone is being released there is a certain threshold that is reached before a reduction in the stimuli to the gland. The endocrine gland will then dial back on its hormone production.
What is the control system in the body and what case can it not work as intended?
The control system in the body measures the amount of hormone in the bloodstream and determines if more or less is needed.
The control’s signal can sometime’s not reach the endocrine to tell it to stop producing the hormone. In this case it becomes a hyper condition (exceeds normal threshold).
What are some of the reasons the control’s signal doesn’t reach the endocrine?
- If the control centre does not have a receptor to that hormone, it is no longer able to tell the hormone is in the blood or not.
- There may be an external source of stimuli (drug treatment)
- Endocrine gland is into sensitive to changes in stimuli
How does the adrenal system behave within the endocrine system?
The hypothalamus is going to send a signal to the anterior pituitary, that is Corticotropin-releasing hormone, telling the anterior pituitary to release Adrenocoticopic hormone (ACTH)
How does the adrenal system behave within the endocrine system?
The hypothalamus is going to send a signal to the anterior pituitary, that is Corticotropin-releasing hormone, telling the anterior pituitary to release Adrenocorticopic hormone (ACTH). ACTH is going to tell me adrenal glands to release that hormone that it produces.
Cortisol and aldosterone they themselves feedback to hypothalamus and pituitary to say that there is enough levels here.
What is Addison’s disease?
The adrenal gland can’t produce cortisol and aldosterone, so there is no feedback. As a result of this hypothalamus and the anterior pituitary gland keep releasing and maybe increasing the hormone.
What is Cushing’s disease?
Where the adrenal gland isn’t listening to the feedback system telling it to stop producing the hormone, so cortisol is continuously pumped. However the anterior pituitary gland can also be affected and no listen to the hypothalamus reducing its CRH.
What is Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia?
It means that there is an increased growth of the adrenal glands. The adrenal gland enlarges therefore increasing the androgen production (e.g. testosterone)
What is Thyroid Homeostasis?
The Hypothalamus releases Thyroid-releasing hormone (TRH) to act on the Anterior Pituitary and it is releasing Thyroid-simulating hormone (TSH) to the thyroid glands to secrete thyroid hormone.
The thyroid hormone will feed back to the anterior pituitary and the Hypothalamus and cause the glands to reduce the amount of hormone that they’re excreting when a threshold is achieved.
What is Graves’ disease?
Where there are external stimuli to the thyroid gland and there are auto-antibodies. These antibodies bind to the TSH receptors on the thyroid gland. Even when there is no TSH, the TSH receptors are still activated therefore the thyroid hormone is still produced.
The feedback system will sense the hormone level exceeding the threshold levels and signal the thyroid to stop producing the hormone. However, since the anti-bodies are an external stimuli, they can’t be controlled.
What is the difference between primary and secondary hypothyroidism?
Primary: The loss of thyroid tissue (e.g. Hashimoto’s disease where the body is targeting the thyroid tissue, hence giving it a reduced ability to produce thyroid hormone)
Secondary: Deficiency in TSH
What is Hyperthyroid ism?
- Reduced production of thyroid hormone
- Resulting from loss of TSH or loss of Thyroid tissue
