A system of glands and cells that make hormones that are released directly into the blood and travel to tissues and organs all over the body. The endocrine system controls growth, sexual development, sleep, hunger, and the way the body uses food.
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The human endocrine system modulates several processes of the body by the function of hormones. The endocrine system secretes hormones that control how bodily functions work. Thus, the human endocrine system watches over and coordinates all the systems of the body by the use of hormones.
Pituitary gland
The pituitary gland is located at the base of the human brain. The gland consists of two parts: the anterior lobe (adenohypophysis) and the posterior lobe (neurohypophysis).
The anterior lobe secretes at least seven hormones. One hormone, the human growth hormone (HGH), promotes body growth by accelerating protein synthesis. This hormone is also known as somatotropin. A deficiency of the hormone results in dwarfism; an over secretion results in gigantism.
Another hormone of the anterior pituitary is prolactin, also called lactogenic hormone (LH). This hormone promotes breast development and milk secretion in females. A third hormone is thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). The function of TSH is to control secretions of hormones from the thyroid gland. A fourth hormone is adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). This hormone controls the secretion of hormones from the adrenal glands.
There are three more hormones produced in the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland. The first is follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). In females, FSH stimulates the development of a follicle, which contains the egg cell; in males, the hormone stimulates sperm production. The next hormone is luteinizing hormone (LH). In females, LH completes the maturation of the follicle and stimulates the formation of the corpus luteum, which temporarily secretes female hormones. In males, LH is interstitial