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Have you ever thought about how you get feelings of being excited, moody or even hungry?

No matter how you are feeling right now, your body is producing very specific chemical messages to regulate these exact feelings. These chemical messages control most of your bodily functions, regulating your body temperature, how sleepy you are, how emotional or stressed you are, they can contribute to how much fat your body stores and where it keeps it, and also controls when you start puberty.

The chemicals that control all of these feelings are called hormones, but what exactly are hormones and how do they work?


Hormones are tiny, singlemolecule messengers which take messages to other parts of the body when released into the bloodstream. They are produced and released by endocrine glands.


• The hypothalamus regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst, sleep, sex drive and moods, and it controls the release of hormones from other glands in the body.
• The pineal gland regulates sleep
• The pituitary gland controls metabolism, growth, when you go through puberty, reproduction, blood pressure and much more.
• The thyroid produces hormones which regulate the body’s metabolic rate, heart and digestive function, muscle control, brain development, and bone maintenance.
• The parathyroid regulates calcium levels in the body
• The thymus produces Tcells,which are a crucial part of the immune system.
• The pancreas produces the insulin that helps control blood sugar levels.
• The adrenal glands control sex drive and produce cortisol, the stress hormone, and of course adrenaline.
• In women, the ovaries produce female sex hormones like oestrogen and progesterone, and in men, the testes produce male sex hormones called androgens like testosterone.
So really, hormones have a part in regulating almost every bodily process. The pituitary gland is often referred to as the ‘master gland’, as it controls many of the others, and the pituitary gland takes orders from the hypothalamus. So these two are like the control centre for the body.

Let’s look at how this works in a bit more detail. Have you ever felt an adrenaline rush? Maybe you’ve ridden a rollercoaster and your heart was racing. Or perhaps you’ve been watching a scary film and a sudden noise made you jump? This is the result of your brain thinking you’re in danger, and releasing hormones to prepare you for a fight or flight response.

Firstly, the hypothalamus tells the pituitary gland about it, which in turn releases a chemical messenger into the bloodstream. The hypothalamus also sends a nerve signal down the spinal cord, which is quicker. Both the messages land at the adrenal gland, which reacts by producing adrenaline and sending it into the bloodstream. The adrenaline binds to different organs and produces many effects, including:
• Faster heart rate
• Heightened alertness
• Rapid breathing
• Widened pupils
This is just one of the many hormonal reactions that take place in the body, but it shows us how the glands talk to each other, using hormones to relay messages that have real, physical effects on the body.

Humans have harnessed the power of hormones to their advantage. For example, many forms of birth control use estrogen and progesterone to affect a woman’s menstrual cycle and stop the release of an egg, amongst other effects. This means a woman can take hormones to stop herself becoming pregnant when she doesn’t want to.

Somebody with type one diabetes cannot produce the hormone insulin, which is usually produced in the pancreas, and therefore must inject it into their body in order to regulate blood sugar levels. Without this option, a type one diabetic would suffer from serious health problems.

Oxytocin, known as the love hormone is released when cuddling, being intimate with a partner or even playing with a dog. Studies have shown that the hormone can reduced blood pressure, which reduces the risk of heart disease. it can also block stress hormones, help heal wounds and even reduce swelling.

#hormones #endocrinesystem #science