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Endocrine Glands
Endocrine glands are scattered throughout in different physiological organs of a rational human body. They help in the better functioning of the body by taking care of various aspects like conversion of calories to energy to gear up cells and organs. The main functions of the endocrine glands are to influence the way your heart beats, monitoring the growth of tissues and cells inside the body, and even your strength to reproduce. Moreover, these glands play a requisite role in deterring you from acquiring lethal diseases like diabetes, thyroid, sexual dysfunction, and other hormone-related disorders.
Types of Endocrine Glands
Every internal and external body part has a function to perform for the intact working of a human body. Here is a list of all the endocrine glands present in our body and flow through our bloodstream. To proceed with, these glands reach various cells and tissues with the help of blood flow in the body and influence the functioning of the body parts.
Hypothalamus
These glands are present in the lower middle brain and play the role of acquainting the pituitary gland about the times when it has to release hormones. It is responsible for making the hormones that regulate the pituitary glands. Adding to this, it also manufactures the hormones that are generally stored in the respective glands for proper functioning.
Pituitary Gland
It is present at the back of the brain. The other name of the pituitary gland is the master gland as it is responsible for regulating all the other glands of the body, especially the thyroid gland. These glands should have nay problems while functioning as they can affect menstrual cycles in women, bone growth, and even the release of breast milk.
Pineal Gland
It is found near the centre of the brain and is responsible for taking care of sleep patterns in human beings. It is responsible for releasing the melatonin that plays a vital role in the rhythmic movements inside the body. These rhythmic movements involve sleep and wake cycles, exhale and inhale routines. etc.
Parathyroid
These glands are present in the neck region and are responsible for bone development. They are present in the body to regulate and keep a track record of calcium intake and usage. The number of Parathyroid glands present inside the body is four.
Thyroid
The glands are shaped like a butterfly in front of the neck. It controls the metabolism of the body. It is responsible for producing thyroxine inside the body. The endocrine gland is also responsible for taking care of the regulation of metabolism inside the body.
Thymus
It is present in the upper chest region of the human body and is responsible for regulating the immune system of the body. In the early stages of a child’s life, the thymus delivers thymosin, which is responsible for the development of T cells stimulation inside the body.
Adrenal Glands
These glands are present in the kidneys and are responsible for the release of human cortisol. These glands release epinephrine and non-epinephrine. These hormones help in the regulation of stress hormones throughout the body. This gland is essential as it helps us to deal with the lowest times of our lives gracefully.
Islet Cells In Pancreas
These glands regulate the release of hormones like insulin and glucagon. These are present at the top of our kidneys. The main function of these glands is to regulate the glucose throughout the body and manage the energy levels all through the day.
Ovaries
These are the main female reproductive organs in a female body that regulate the formation of a baby. The hormones produced in the ovaries are progesterone and estrogen. The main function of Estrogen is to look after the development of secondary sex characteristics as well as the development of eggs for fertilization and menstruation in females. Progesterone functions in the body to develop the uterus to take care of a fertilized egg for the entire period of pregnancy.
Testes
These are the male reproductive organs that are responsible for supporting childbirth. The testosterone develops the room for sperm production in a male body. The gland is also responsible for the development of secondary sex organs in males.
After knowing all these glands, you must make sure about the healthy well-being of all of these endocrine glands as even a little hiccup in them causes endocrine disorders or diseases. These disorders in your body can turn out to be fatal too.
Bifurcation of Disorders In Endocrine Glands
You can always group the endocrine disorders into two broad categories:
- Hormonal imbalance is caused due to too many or too few endocrine hormones for an optimized functioning of the body.
- Endocrine diseases are caused due to the development of tumours or nodules, that may or may not have a negative impact on the releasing hormones.
Causes of Disorders In Endocrine Glands
There are various causes of endocrine disorders that may hamper the functional growth of the body. Read them below in the given points:
- There can chances that you diagnose a person with endocrine disorders with an endocrine feedback system.
- There are chances that severe disease is diagnosed that affects the functioning of endocrine glands.
- You may have inherited endocrine disorders like Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN) in your genes.
- Infection in one or more endocrine glands.
- Some accidental injury to endocrine glands.
- There might be a development of a tumour of an endocrine gland.
You must be very cautious about these causes of endocrine disorders. The moment you suspect something going wrong or you have been exposed to any of the above causes of disorders, you must consult a doctor and get it diagnosed. This way, you can get timely treatment and recovery will be easier.
Many tumours that are found in the endocrine glands are non-cancerous. Yet, they do not spread to the rest of the body. However, detecting a tumour, whether it is cancerous or non-cancerous, is harmful to be diagnosed in a human body.
Types of Disorders In Endocrine Glands
Here are a few disorders that many people observe due to hormonal imbalance. Refer to the given points:
Adrenal Inefficiency
This is a disorder caused due to the lesser amounts of the hormone cortisol and aldosterone, at times. Symptoms are fatigue, upset stomach, dehydration, and changes in skin texture.
Cushing’s Disease
This is caused due to the generation of the pituitary gland hormones in excessive amounts. The syndrome is recognized usually in people who have had taken too many corticosteroids in heavy doses.
Gigantism
There are cases when one or more organs in a child’s body starting growing fast in an abnormal manner. In this case, the body stops growing at height if the growth hormones are too low to support the growth.
Diabetes
Diabetes is one of the most common diseases found in people with endocrine disorders. The blood sugar levels fluctuate drastically causing harm to the patient.
Hyperthyroidism And Hypothyroidism
Hyperthyroidism is a situation where the patient undergoes extreme weight loss, a fast running heartbeat, and immoderate sweating. All this is because of the corresponding gland that is responsible for the excessive production of thyroid hormones.
Hypothyroidism is a situation where the patient undergoes constipation, dry skin, depression, and fatigue. This happens because of the insufficient amount of thyroid hormones being produced by the respective gland.
Multiple Endocrine Neoplasias I and II
It is a type of endocrine disorder that passes through genes. They are harmful enough to cause tumours in parathyroid, adrenal, and thyroid glands. The ultimate result of MEN I and MEN II is the overproduction of hormones.
Hypopituitarism
Many diseases can cause Hypopituitarism disorders. Due to this endocrine disorder, women may stop getting their menstruation cycle in a flow.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
PCOS is one of the leading causes of infertility in women. This endocrine disorder is caused due to the overproduction of androgens that interferes with the development of eggs and the functioning of ovaries in females.
These are all the endocrine disorders caused due to various diseases and other factors in the body. One should get these disorders tested in the earlier stages so that one can avail of a relevant treatment for recovery.
Diagnosis of Endocrine Disorders
There are some ways to test the disorders in the endocrine glands of a human being. Adding to this, the doctor whom you can go to get your check-ups and tests is called an endocrinologist. You can sense the feeling of being tested if you experience the symptoms. In such cases, you can take help from the following three methods to take the assistance.
Blood Tests
You can get your blood tests done to get a check on your hormonal balance and take proper action if something is suspicious there.
Urine Tests
This is also one of the tests that you can avail of to get a diagnosis of endocrine disorders. These tests are done both before and after meals so that one can get an average count to calculate the severity of disorders and recover early with the provision of some suitable treatments.
Imaging Tests
Various imaging tests are also a successful method to diagnose if there is any tumour developing in the endocrine glands. These tests can also help in imaging the development of various nodules in the endocrine glands.
Once diagnosed, these endocrine disorders can undergo severe treatments in the worst cases. However, such treatment causes various imbalances in the hormones as the improvement in one endocrine gland can cause damage to others. The medicines are quite strong and may cause other side effects.
However, you must take care of each and everything that keeps close contact with your endocrine system. Adding to this, visit an endocrinologist and get the most appropriate guidance on the issues that you are facing with your body.
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