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When I was in the seventh grade, I remember my friend Michael Root's science project on the endocrine system. He made a detailed poster of all the glands in the body with little arrows coming out, representing the various hormones. He gave his presentation to the class, describing the intricacies of this elegant system.  Chronic pain patients angry over ‘opioid contracts’ clickresources.

As a twelve-year-old, I remember thinking to myself, what a complicated system. How do all these glands know what hormones to make and how do those hormones know what to do? At the time, the whole thing seemed fixed, unchangeable, just another bodily function. I didn't realize how dynamic and adaptable our hormones can be.

In my first year of medical school, I rediscovered the remarkable endocrine system. I studied glands and hormones and learned how hormones really worked. Over the years, I have continued to think about glands and hormones in their most basic terms.

 I think that understanding the very basics of the endocrine system helps when you contemplate the hormonal disorders that people have. For example, to understand the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, you must have a fundamental understanding of the hormone insulin and the insulin receptor.

Insulin is just one of many hormones, but in many ways all hormones are the same. Hormones are made by glands. There two types of glands, those that make hormones, known as endocrine glands and those that make other substances, like sweat and saliva, known as exocrine glands. LAWYER SUING CALIFORNIA OVER SCHOOL CLOSURES SAYS ORDER UNCONSTITUTIONAL, TAKES AWAY ‘FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT’ findout this here.

Endocrine means that substances are secreted directly into the bloodstream. Exocrine means that substances are secreted somewhere other than the bloodstream. So this means that hormones are substances produced by glands that are secreted directly into the blood stream. Seems simple right?

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