Hormone: A Chemical Communicator by Abdullah Al Moinee

Hormone: A Chemical Communicator

Abdullah Al Moinee 

Hormones are the energy of the life and essence of human survival. Hormone itself, as a word is derived from the Greek participle “ὁρμῶ”, which means "to set in motion or urge on." A hormone is any member of a class of signaling molecules produced by glands in multicellular organisms. Hormones are transported by the circulatory system to target organs to regulate human psychology and physiology as a biochemical engineer sustaining the essence of life. 

In the 1800s, scientists started to think that some sort of chemical communication must take place between different organs in the body, and they later recognized that certain disorders could be treated with extracts from endocrine tissues. But the term "hormone" wasn't gleaned until the early 1900s. In 1902, English physiologists William Bayliss and Ernest Starling concluded that the chemicals, which they later named hormones, controlled the secretions of the pancreas. 

Hormones are the chemical messengers in the body that are created in the endocrine glands and secreted directly into the bloodstream to tissues or organs. As a chemical messenger, a hormone works to engineer the communication between organs and tissues for physiological regulation and behavioral activities controlling the essence and urge of life such as digestion, metabolism, respiration, functions of tissues, sleep, excretion, lactation, stress, growth, movement, reproduction, and mood. 

A hormone designs a perpetual pathway as an engineer to continue the journey through human body. Firstly, a particular hormone goes through biosynthesis in a particular tissue. Then hormone is stored and secreted from the selective places of the tissues. Later, the signals engender the hormone to transport specifically. The intracellular receptor or associated cell membrane recognize the hormone on the basis of selective specification. Then, the signal transduction process aids for relay and amplification. This leads to a cellular response. The reaction of the target cells may then be recognized by the original hormone-producing cells, leading to a down-regulation in hormone production. Finally, the breakdown process of hormone occurs spontaneously under specific environment. 

The eight hormone-secreting glands of the endocrine system are the adrenal gland, hypothalamus, pancreas, parathyroid gland, pineal gland, pituitary gland, reproductive glands and thyroid gland. But some other organs and tissues that are not generally considered part of the endocrine system also produce and secrete hormones. For instance, the stomach releases the hunger-inducing hormone ghrelin and the hormone gastrin, which stimulates the secretion of gastric acid. 

Hormone secretion may occur in many tissues. Endocrine glands are the cardinal example, but specialized cells in various other organs also secrete hormones. Like the nervous system, the endocrine system is an information signal system. There are two types of glands in the body: exocrine and endocrine. Exocrine glands include the salivary glands, sweat glands and mammary glands and excrete their products through ducts. Endocrine glands, by contrast, release their products (hormones) without ducts, directly into the bloodstream. 

Hormone secretion occurs in response to specific biochemical signals from a wide range of regulatory systems. Serum calcium concentration affects parathyroid hormone synthesis; blood sugar affects insulin synthesis; because the outputs of the stomach and exocrine pancreas become the input of the small intestine, the small intestine secretes hormones to stimulate the stomach and pancreas. The pancreas has both endocrine and exocrine functions. On one hand, it releases a number of hormones, including insulin and glucagon, into the bloodstream. But it also secretes a pancreatic juice that contains important digestive enzymes via ducts into the small intestine. 

Hormonal imbalance that happen as a result of exposure to toxins, an unbalanced lifestyle or thyroid issues or diabetes, can lead to serious health disorders. Trouble in sleeping may be a symptom for hormonal problems. Researchers believe that one week of camping, without electronics, can help the body synchronizes melatonin hormones with sunrise and sunset. More sunlight exposure for a man can likely elevate testosterone levels as there is a positive correlation between vitamin D and testosterone levels. Vitamin D is the only vitamin that is also a hormone. Its deficiency can lead to numerous mental illnesses such as depression and Schizophrenia. Diabetes is a disease in which the pancreas stops producing insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. Besides, alcohol has widespread effects on the endocrine system. Alcohol can impair the regulation of blood-sugar levels by interfering with certain hormones, reduce testosterone levels in men by damaging the testes and increase the risk of osteoporosis. 

The endocrine system quickly secretes various hormones in response to stress at higher-than-normal levels in order to help the body mobilize more energy and adapt to new circumstances. The pituitary-adrenal axis starts releasing adrenaline to increase the volume of blood pumped out by the heart and the blood flowing to the skeletal muscles. Moreover, cortisol is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal cortex and it is released in response to the stress and low blood-glucose concentration. It inhibits the peripheral use of glucose and decreases the growth of bone. During acute physical stress, the pituitary gland may also ramp up the secretion of the growth hormone, which enhances metabolic activity. But prolonged or frequent stressful events can lead to a number of endocrine disorders, including Graves' disease, gonadal dysfunction and obesity. 

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, many endocrine system studies were generated on dogs, rather than on more typical lab animals, such as mice and guinea pigs. In 1889, German physiologist Oskar Minkowski and German physician Josef von Mering induced diabetes in dogs by removing their pancreases. Five years later, English physiologist Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer and English physician George Oliver took extracts from the adrenal glands of dogs and injected them into other dogs, which resulted in hypertension and rapid heartbeat. 

Plants do not have an endocrine system or endocrine glands, unlike humans and other animals. But they do have hormones, which affect various processes related to plant growth, including gene expression, metabolism and cell division. Plant cells sometimes produce hormones to use locally, but they may also transport the chemicals to other areas using specialized elongated cells or other means. 

Hormones are the engineer of human essences to design the pathway fueling the activities of life significantly. The natural designs of many hormones with their structural and functional analogs are utilized as medications. Insulin, as mentioned earlier, is used by many diabetics. General preparations and compositions for utilizing in otolaryngology often contain pharmacologic equivalents of adrenaline. In dermatology, steroid and vitamin D creams are extensively prescribed. The most commonly prescribed hormones are estrogens and progestogens as methods of hormonal contraception and as hormone replacement therapy (HRT), thyroxine as levothyroxine for hypothyroidism and steroids for autoimmune diseases and several respiratory disorders.