How the Body Regulates Hormones Where do these hormone messengers come from?
How do we know when to use them? The hypothalamus of the brain decides to secrete hormones using the pituitary gland – often called the “master gland” because it produces hormone stimulating factors. The hormone stimulating factors travel to the appropriate gland that makes the hormone to tell it to make more of that hormone. For example, the hypothalamus tells the pituitary to release thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). This TSH travels to the thyroid gland and tells it to make more thyroid hormones. Just like the adrenal gland that secretes stress hormones sits in the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis, so does the thyroid sit in the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Thyroid (HPT) axis. The hormones travel through the bloodstream. They are usually bound to a protein which protects them from damage until they reach their destination. However, only when unbound to that protein can they be “free” and exert their physiological effects. In order to stimulate their effects, they have to engage
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