hormones right you either love them or you hate them today we're going to be talking about the ait's version 7 human anatomy and physiology portion of the exam and we're going to be focusing on the endocrine system let's get started the endocrine system is composed of various structures that release hormones which can occur at the individual cell level or the entire organ so starting at the top when it comes to our brain we have the hypothalamus the pineal gland and the pituitary gland moving down to our neck we have the thyroid gland and the parathyroid gland further down into our chest we have the thamus gland positioned right above our kidneys we have the adrenal gland and right next to our stomach we have the pancreas and then lastly we have our gonads which are the reproductive glands we can have ovaries and females and we have testes and males so let's highlight two key points when we discuss these different kinds of glands firstly our Focus here is going to be primarily on the endocrine function of these glands not the exocrine function so what's the difference endocrine glands release hormones directly into their surrounding environment like blood vessels without the need of actually having to have Ducks conversely exocrine glands have to have ducks in order to transport those secretions to the body's surfaces and Cavities think of things like sweat glands mammory glands which produce milk these kind of glands are exocrine glands there's a great memory trick when it comes to remembering the differences between these two types of glands when it comes to endocrine I like to think of the and endocrine and the and enter which means that endocrine glands secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream they enter their internal environment whereas the ex and exocrine and the ex and exit lets us know that exocrine glands use ducts to transport these secretions out of the gland and either onto the surface of our body or our body cavities what's really interesting is that some glands like we see with our pancreas have both endocrine and exocrine functions for example it's endocrine activity involves releasing insulin and glucagon to manage blood sugar levels while its exocrine function involves secreting digestive enzymes through ducts into the small intestine and secondly while we've covered major endocrine glands it's important to recognize that endocrine functions can also be found in cells within other organ orans let's take the stomach for example in our discussion about the digestive system we discussed that enzymes and hydrochloric acid and gastric juices but we never mentioned gastrin which is a hormone that facilitates the secretion of stomach acid gastrin is produced by specific cells found within our stomach showing how widespread endocrine activities can be found throughout the body let's move on to the role of hormones it's important to understand that hormones can come from various biomolecules some of these can be derived from amino acids or chains of amino acids known as polypeptides and some may be derived from lipids such as steroids the composition of a hormone significantly impacts its function including the specific receptor sites that are going to bind to targeted cells once bound hormones are going to trigger these cells to perform specific actions such as accelerating mitosis or activating certain enzymes given the diverse responses of targeted cells we'll revisit the glands and explore some of the major hormones associated with each one outlining their General functions this will give us a clear picture of how hormones influence bodily processes so starting in the brain the hypothalamus pituitary region acts as a Central Command overseeing much of the endocrine system the pituitary gland is divided into two parts we have the interior pitutary which is more towards the front and the post aior pituitary which is more towards the back both of which branch off from the hypothalmus the hypothalmus produces several hormones which the posterior pituitary stores in later releases what's really cool is that unlike its counterpart our posterior pituitary does not produce its own hormones instead it secretes hormones like oxytocin which is crucial for uterine contractions during childbirth an anti-diuretic hormone also known as ADH which promotes otes the kidneys to reabsorb water the interior pituitary however is a hormone powerhouse it's capable of producing its own hormones while still being tightly regulated by the hypothalmus some of the key hormones you're going to see is growth hormone which you might have guessed promotes growth prolactin also known as PRL stimulates milk production in the mamory glands thyroid stimulating hormone which activates the thyroid to release thyroid hormones follicle stimulating hormone which stimulates the formation of the OVA and sperm lutenizing hormone produces ovulation and androgens respectfully and lastly we have the andreno corticotropic hormone also known as acct which drives the adrenal cortex to release various hormones like cortisol here are some easy ways to help you remember these different kinds of hormones remember oxytocin when it comes to obstetrics as this helps with the uterine ractions during childbirth when you think of ADH think of the D as you can't pee since this helps the body retain water by preventing diuresis also known as urination when it comes to growth hormone I like to think of GH standing for grow high as it focuses on promoting body growth the PRL when it comes to prolactin stands for produce real lactation cuz it stimulates milk production the TSH and thyroid stimulating hormone stands for thyroid sec secretion helper as it stimulates the thyroid to release thyroid hormones the FSH and follicle stimulating hormone stands for follicle selection hormone since it stimulates the gonads to produce gtes the LH in lutenizing hormone stands for ltil phase hormone because it plays a critical role in menstration and ovulation and then lastly the ACT stands for adrenal cortex triggering hormone because it stimulates the adrenal cortex to release various hormones it's important not to overlook the small yet Mighty pineal gland despite its size it plays a significant role by secreting melatonin which is key in regulating our circadian rhythm that's the natural cycle that influences our sleep wake cycle next up we have the thyroid gland which is that butterfly shaped gland that Nestles beneath the larynx and encircles the trachea in the front this gland produces T4 and T3 hormones which are pivotal in regulating metabolic processes Additionally the thyroid gland secretes calcitonin which is a hormone that helps reduce our blood calcium levels the parathyroid gland is located at the back or posterior position relative to the thyroid gland and this particular gland is going to secrete something known as parathyroid hormone which plays a critical role in increasing our blood calcium levels so why is calcium so important calcium plays a vital role in nerve transmission and muscle function including the proper functioning of the heart muscle it's also essential when it comes to blood clotting processes and helps regulate enzyme activity and hormone secretion there are some easy ways to remember the functions of T4 T3 calcitonin and parathyroid hormone I like to think of the T and T4 and T3 as standing for thyroid and the numbers four and three indicate the number of ion molecules each contains both of these hormones are crucial for turning up the body's metabolic rate like turning up the heat to make things go faster when it comes to calcitonin I like to remember it as caleton it down because it helps lower the levels of calcium that are found in our blood when they're too high and with parathyroid hormone you can think of it as parathyroid pushes it up meaning that it's going to increase those calcium levels in our blood when we don't have enough so next let's focus on our thymus gland what's interesting is that some endocrine diagrams might leave out the thymus possibly because it diminishes inside as a person matures into adulthood however as a gland the thymus produces hormones that influence immune function also known as thymosin thymosin is particularly important because it stimulates the production of our tea cells which are key players in the immune response an easy way to remember thymosin is thy must stimulate immunity this pneumonic helps link thymosin in its crucial role when it comes to our immune system next up let's examine the adrenal glands which are situated right here above our kidney these glands are comprised of two distinct parts we have the Adrenal medulla and the adrenal cortex the Adrenal medulla secretes two things it secretes epinephrine and nor epinephrine which are hormones that are crucial for initiating the fight ORF flight response that we see in our body during stress epinephine primarily influences the heart while nor epinephine Works primarily on our blood vessels I like to remember this with the pneumonic Epi no rush meaning that Epi stands for epinephrine no stands for norepinephrine as it's essential for it to rush or burst out of energy needed for that fight ORF flight response moving on to the adrenal cortex it produces something known as glyco cortic or steroids with cortisol being its primary example cortisol helps increase blood glucose levels and plays significant roles in managing stress and reducing inflammation Additionally the adrenal cortex secretes mineral corticosteroids such as aldosterone which is essential for balancing electrolytes in the body aldosterone for example helps regulate sodium reabsorption and pottassium excretion in the nephrons of the kidney some tips and ways that I like to remember these is that cortisol controls stress because it helps manage stress and inflammation and for adrone I like to think of Aldo stores na where the Aldo stands for aldosterone because it stores sodium which is our na inside of our body next up the pancreas plays a crucial role in managing the body's glucose levels after we eat glucose which is a type of sugar enters our bloodstream insulin which is a hormone produced by our pancreas is going to Signal the body's cells to absorb the gluc glucose without insulin cells cannot access glucose they need for energy which is why many individuals with diabetes may need to take insulin injections if their pancreas isn't functioning appropriately Additionally the pancreas produces glycon another important hormone that helps increase blood glucose levels by promoting the liver to convert its stored glycogen into glucose ensuring that the body maintains a balanced energy Supply with insulin than insulin puts sugar in insulin is key when it comes to letting glucose enter the cells this pneumonic emphasizes that insulin's primary role to lower blood sugar levels by facilitating glucose entry into the cells and with glucagon I want you to think of glucagon raises glucose remember glucagon is the hormone that gets glucose going by raising blood sugar levels and of course as we know it does this by signaling the liver to release glucose in into the bloodstream and then lastly we're going to discuss our gonads that is our ovaries and our testes the ovaries produce estrogen which primarily promotes the growth of the uterine lining and the development of female secondary sex characteristics Additionally the ovaries produce progesterone which not only supports but also maintains that uterine lining growth and helps play a prival role in fetal development during pregnancy on the other hand testies produc produce androgens also known as testosterone which is essential for sperm production and the development of male secondary sex characteristics it's important to note that while estrogen progesterone and testosterone are present in all individuals these hormone concentrations and primary functions are going to vary typically estrogen and progesterone are found in higher levels and play more significant roles in females whereas androgens like testosterone or more concentrated and predominantly function in males I hope that this video is helpful in understanding everything you need to know when it comes to the endocrine system for the te's as always if you have any questions make sure that you leave them down below I love answering your questions head over to nurse chunk store.com where there is a ton of additional resources in order to help you Ace those atits exams and as always I'm going to catch you in the next video bye