A healthy human body is an
example of a perfect creation made by our God Almighty. The way your heart
pumps involuntarily, you breathing freely, your reflexes and a lot more! Being a human, we are capable of having deep
thoughts, emotions and decisions. We always think that the heart controls our
emotions because when we are feeling something like when we are in-love, we can feel our
chest like it is burning from the inside. An unexplainable feeling. What most
people aren’t aware of is that our brain controls everything. Hormones on the
other hand could somehow control a variety of human functions, including metabolism, developmental
growth, tissue function and mood.
Hormones serve as chemical messengers
inside our body. Each of the hormones is being formed by a specific tissue of
origin which will then be freed in the bloodstream and carried to the site of
action. Usually, hormones act at a specific site or sites (target cells) to stimulate
certain characteristic biochemical changes. The collection of hormones, carrier
proteins and other components of these processes is called the endocrine
system. Hormones are indeed very important in our body. Underproduction and
overproduction of these could give clinical significance like Diabetes which is one
of the most common diseases here in the Philippines. Over 6,000 endocrine
disorders have been discovered but there are still a lot more that are still
hiding.
Types of hormones
1. Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF)
2. Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GRH)
3. Growth hormone inhibitory hormone
4., Thyroid releasing hormone
5. Vasopressin / Antidiuretic hormone (ADH)
6. Oxytocin
7. Adrenaline
8. Noradrenaline
9. Insulin
One
of the disorders that caught my attention is the Male Pseudohermaphroditism or MPH. Testosterone is a
male hormone. It doesn’t work unless it binds to certain proteins in our body
cells. Once there is a dysfunction in these proteins the cells will not work
with the male hormone. We all started as girls. Our genes which came from both
our mother and father will differentiate our sexes later on. Ovaries develop
into testes and drop then a fetus with an XY chromosome (boy) develops into something
out of the ordinary. The testes never descended. From the outside, people with
this disorder will develop as a female which looks completely normal.
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| An infant with MPH |
There is a number of
hormones in our body. Because of these, they have been classified by their arrangement
and their tissue of origin. All of which have their own importance and functions. There is still a great number of things involving our human body that wait for someone who will discover them. We still have a long way to go.
References:
Calbreath, Donald F. Clinical Chemistry A Fundamental Textbook
Calbreath, Donald F. Clinical Chemistry A Fundamental Textbook
http://emedicine.medscape.com/endocrinology
