| Bette Dowdell | | | | are in the brain. Well, who knew? |
| Gather round as I tell you about something so | | | | Endocrine problems are systemwide, and |
| important that it controls almost everything that | | | | everything affects everything. To use an |
| goes on inside your body, but so secret that | | | | expression from my old IBM days, a flow chart |
| almost nobody knows about it. Oh, a few may | | | | of what goes on would look like an explosion in a |
| know the name of it, but they couldn’t | | | | spaghetti factory. |
| explain it to you–even if you offered them a | | | | That said, for comprehension’s sake, I’m |
| million dollars. | | | | going to write about the system one piece and |
| | | | one article at time. Just keep a thought in the |
| The endocrine system tells your body how to | | | | back of your mind that nothing in the endocrine |
| work–or not. If your brain gets fogged over, | | | | system acts independently and don’t skip a |
| think endocrine. If your hair gets thin and falls out, | | | | gland or two because you don’t think they |
| think endocrine. If your weight keeps ballooning no | | | | apply. |
| matter what you do, think endocrine. If you get | | | | I’ll write about are hypothalamus, pituitary, |
| an autoimmune disease, think endocrine. Heck, | | | | thyroid, adrenals, parathyroids, pancreas, pineal, |
| whatever happens, at least give a thought to the | | | | thymus, gonads and leptin, which is not actually a |
| endocrine system. | | | | gland, but a real player in the endocrine game. The |
| You want amazing? Check out the endocrine | | | | title to each article will start “This Is Your |
| system. Not only does the list of activities go on | | | | Endocrine System” so they’ll be easy to |
| and on, the level of cooperation between | | | | find. |
| endocrine glands goes to the death. If one gland | | | | As I discuss each of the endocrine glands, keep in |
| starts to falter, the others try to help. If one | | | | mind all of them converse back and forth 24/7 in |
| gland dies, the others throw themselves on the | | | | a looped feedback kind of system. If one shows |
| funeral pyre in an attempt to make things better. | | | | sign of trouble, the others jump in to do what |
| Don’t ever decide you can have a problem | | | | they can to help out. Endocrine problems are |
| with only one endocrine gland. One gland may | | | | system-wide, not local. |
| outdo the others in creating a mess, but | | | | One final thought: Whenever you hear the word |
| they’re all in there, bailing like crazy. | | | | ‘hormone,’ you know the topic is the |
| Plus, all the endocrine glands work in all parts of | | | | endocrine system–the source of our |
| the body. Receptors for thyroid hormone, for | | | | hormones. And hormones are the gas that keeps |
| instance, are in the gut, and estrogen receptors | | | | the engine running. |