An endocrine system (अंतःस्त्रावी प्रणाली) is a chemical messenger system comprising feedback loops of hormones released by internal glands of an organism directly into the circulatory system, regulating distant target organs. In humans, the major endocrine glands are the thyroid gland and the adrenal glands. In the vertebrates, the hypothalamus is the neural control center for all endocrine systems. An Endocrine system and its disorders are known as endocrinology. Endocrinology is a branch of internal medicine. Siddha Spirituality of Swami Hardas Life System expects our valuable readers to know about the endocrine system, meaning, definition, organs and structure, function, 9 fun facts, diseases, common diseases, classification, and endocrine system of other animals.
Endocrine system Meaning (अंत:स्रावी प्रणाली का अर्थ)
The word endocrine derives via New Latin from the Greek words ἔνδον, endon, “inside, within,” and “crine” from the κρίνω, krīnō, “to separate, distinguish”.
Endocrine system Definition (अंत:स्रावी प्रणाली की परिभाषा)
A bodily system that consists of the endocrine glands and the hormones that they secrete.
Endocrine system organ and Structure (अंतःस्रावी प्रणाली अंग और संरचना)
Major endocrine systems (प्रमुख अंतःस्रावी तंत्र)
The human endocrine system consists of several systems that operate via feedback loops. Several important feedback systems are mediated via the hypothalamus and pituitary.
- TRH – TSH – T3/T4
- GnRH – LH/FSH – sex hormones
- CRH – ACTH – cortisol
- Renin-angiotensin – aldosterone
- Leptin vs. insulin
Glands (ग्रंथि)
Endocrine glands are glands of the endocrine system that secrete their products, hormones, directly into interstitial spaces and then absorbed into the blood rather than through a duct. The major glands of the endocrine system include:
- Pineal gland
- Pituitary gland
- Pancreas
- Ovaries
- Testes
- Thyroid gland
- Parathyroid gland
- Hypothalamus
- Adrenal glands
The hypothalamus and pituitary gland are neuroendocrine organs.
Cells (कोशिका)
There are many types of cells that comprise the endocrine system and these cells typically make up larger tissues and organs that function within and outside of the endocrine system:
- Hypothalamus
- Anterior pituitary gland
- Pineal gland
- Posterior pituitary gland
- Thyroid gland
- Parathyroid gland
- Adrenal glands
- Pancreas
- Ovaries
- Testis
Endocrine system Function (अंत:स्रावी प्रणाली का कार्य)
Hormones (हार्मोन)
A hormone is any of a class of signaling molecules produced by glands in multicellular organisms that are transported by the circulatory system to target distant organs to regulate physiology and behaviour. Hormones have diverse chemical structures, mainly of 3 classes:
- Eicosanoids
- Steroids
- Amino acid/protein derivatives (amines, peptides, and proteins)
The glands that secrete hormones comprise the endocrine system. The term hormone is sometimes extended to include chemicals produced by cells that affect the same cell or nearby cells.
Hormones are used to communicate between organs and tissues for physiological regulation and behavioral activities, such as:
- Digestion
- Metabolism
- Respiration
- Tissue function
- Sensory perception
- Sleep
- Excretion
- Lactation
- Stress
- Growth and development
- Movement
- Reproduction
- Mood
Cell signaling (कोशिका संकेतन)
The typical mode of cell signaling in the endocrine system is endocrine signaling, that is, using the circulatory system to reach distant target organs. However, there are also other modes, i.e., paracrine, autocrine, and neuroendocrine signaling. Purely neurocrine signaling between neurons, on the other hand, belongs completely to the nervous system.
Autocrine (ऑटोक्राइन)
Autocrine signaling is a form of signaling in which a cell secretes a hormone or chemical messenger (called the autocrine agent) that binds to autocrine receptors on the same cell, leading to changes in the cells.
Paracrine (पैराक्राइन)
Some endocrinologists and clinicians include the paracrine system as part of the endocrine system, but there is no consensus. Paracrine are slower acting, targeting cells in the same tissue or organ. An example of this is somatostatin which is released by some pancreatic cells and targets other pancreatic cells.
Juxtacrine (जुक्स्ताक्राइन)
Juxtacrine signaling is a type of intercellular communication that is transmitted via oligosaccharide, lipid, or protein components of a cell membrane, and may affect either the emitting cell or the immediately adjacent cells.
It occurs between adjacent cells that possess broad patches of closely opposed plasma membrane linked by transmembrane channels known as connexons. The gap between the cells can usually be between only 2 and 4 nm.
Endocrine system 9 Fun facts (अंत:स्रावी प्रणाली के 9 मनोरंजक तथ्य)
1. Endocrinology Practiced over 2,000 years (अंतःस्त्राविका 2,000 साल से अधिक अभ्यास)
The medical and scientific study of the endocrine system is called endocrinology. Even though ancient healers had no way to understand the function of endocrine glands, Chinese healers in 200 B.C. used the compound saponin from seeds and the mineral gypsum to extract pituitary and sex hormones from human urine to make medicine. Endocrinology wasn’t recognized as a science in its modern form until the nineteenth century.
2. Hormones undiscovered until 20th Century (20 वीं शताब्दी तक हार्मोन अनदेखा)
While Chinese healers extracted and used hormones for centuries, the chemical nature of those hormones remained elusive. In the 1800s, scientists knew that some form of chemical messaging occurred between organs. Finally, in 1902, English physiologists Ernest Starling and William Bayliss coined the word “hormones” to describe pancreatic secretions.
3. Osteoporosis is an Endocrine Disorder (ऑस्टियोपोरोसिस एक अंत:स्रावी विकार)
Osteoporosis is a disease in which bone becomes less dense and more susceptible to fractures. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, osteoporosis affects nearly one in 10 adults over the age of 50. Although osteoporosis affects the bones, it’s actually an endocrine disease. In women, low estrogen levels are the most common underlying cause. Hyperthyroidism can also cause secondary osteoporosis.
4. Ancient physicians tasted urine to diagnose Diabetes (प्राचीन चिकित्सकों ने मधुमेह का निदान करने के लिए मूत्र का स्वाद चखा)
The most common endocrine disorder is diabetes mellitus, which affects about 8 percent of the U.S. population, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Diabetes occurs when the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin.
In conventional medicine, diabetes is diagnosed using urine and blood tests, but doctors have been able to identify it for centuries. The Greek physician Hippocrates (c. 460 to 377 B.C.), however, diagnosed diabetes by tasting his patient’s urine. Because insulin controls blood sugar, a person with uncontrolled diabetes leaks sugar into the urine, causing it to taste sweet.
5. A Gland Can Have Both Endocrine and Exocrine Functions (एक ग्रंथि में एंडोक्राइन और एक्सोक्राइन दोनों प्रकार के कार्य हो सकते हैं)
Endocrine glands are clusters of cells, rather than entire organs. Pancreatic juice, secreted by a duct into the small intestine, is an exocrine product.
6. The endocrine system responds to Stress (अंत:स्रावी प्रणाली तनाव का जवाब)
Prolonged stress causes endocrine disorders, including obesity and the autoimmune thyroid disorder Graves’ disease.
7. Scientist tested Hormone Replacement Therapy on Himself (वैज्ञानिक ने स्वयं पर हार्मोन रिप्लेसमेंट थेरेपी का परीक्षण किया)
In 1849, German physiologist Arnold Adolph Berthold demonstrated that removing and reimplanting rooster testes affected the bird’s secondary sex characteristics, including comb growth, crowing, and fighting.
Endocrinologist Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard took this idea to the next level, injecting himself with dog and guinea pig testes extracts. The 72-year-old published his results in The Lancet, saying the treatment restored his strength and vitality. While hormone replacement therapy does work, Brown-Séquard’s results may have been a result of the placebo effect.
8. Animals have the Endocrine System (पशुयों में अंतःस्रावी प्रणाली होती है)
Humans and other vertebrates e.g. cats, dogs, frogs, fish, birds, lizards all have a hypothalamus-pituitary axis that serves as the basis for the endocrine system. Other vertebrates also have a thyroid, although it may serve a slightly different function. For example, in frogs, the thyroid regulates the transformation from a tadpole into an adult. All vertebrates have an adrenal gland, too.
All animals with a nervous system have an endocrine system.
9. Plants produce hormones without an Endocrine System (पौधे अंतःस्रावी प्रणाली के बिना हार्मोन का उत्पादन करते हैं)
Plants don’t have an endocrine or exocrine system, but they still produce hormones to control growth, fruit ripening, repair, and metabolism. Some hormones diffuse to local tissue, like exocrine hormones.
Endocrine system Diseases (अंतःस्रावी प्रणाली के रोग)
Disease (रोग)
Diseases of the endocrine system are common, including conditions such as:
Endocrine disease is characterized by:
- Misregulated hormone release i.e. a productive pituitary adenoma
- Inappropriate response to signaling i.e. hypothyroidism
- Lack of a gland i.e. diabetes mellitus type 1, diminished erythropoiesis in chronic renal failure
- Structural enlargement in a critical site such as the thyroid
Hypofunction of endocrine glands can occur as a result of a loss of reserve, hyposecretion, agenesis, atrophy, or active destruction. Hyperfunction can occur as a result of hypersecretion, loss of suppression, hyperplastic or neoplastic change, or hyperstimulation.
Endocrine system Common diseases (अंत:स्रावी प्रणाली के आम रोग)
Other common diseases that result from endocrine dysfunction include:
- Addison’s disease
- Cushing’s disease
- Graves’ disease
Cushing’s disease and Addison’s disease are pathologies involving the dysfunction of the adrenal gland. Dysfunction in the adrenal gland could be due to primary or secondary factors and can result in hypercortisolism or hypocortisolism. Some clinical signs of Cushing’s disease include obesity, moon face, and hirsutism. Addison’s disease is an endocrine disease that results from hypocortisolism caused by adrenal gland insufficiency.
Graves’ disease involves the hyperactivity of the thyroid gland which produces the T3 and T4 hormones. Graves’ disease affects range from excess sweating, fatigue, heat intolerance and high blood pressure to swelling of the eyes that causes redness, puffiness and in rare cases reduced or double vision.
Endocrine system Classification (अंत:स्रावी प्रणाली का वर्गीकरण)
Endocrinopathies are classified as:
- Primary
- Secondary
- Tertiary
Primary endocrine disease inhibits the action of downstream glands. Secondary endocrine disease is indicative of a problem with the pituitary gland. Tertiary endocrine disease is associated with dysfunction of the hypothalamus and its releasing hormones.
Endocrine system Other animals (अन्य जानवरों की अंत:स्रावी प्रणाली )
A neuroendocrine system has been observed in all animals with a nervous system and all vertebrates have a hypothalamus-pituitary axis. All vertebrates have a thyroid, which in amphibians is also crucial for the transformation of larvae into adult form. All vertebrates have adrenal gland tissue, with mammals unique in having it organized into layers. All vertebrates have some form of a renin-angiotensin axis, and all tetrapods have aldosterone as a primary mineralocorticoid.
Reference:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_system
- https://www.thoughtco.com/endocrine-system-fun-facts-4171520
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