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The Endocrine System (concepts and diseases)

The endocrine system is made up of several chemicals and parts called hormones. They are the ones responsible for maintaining our temperature in a different environment, changing and growing of our bodies, and for sexual reproduction. This is also the reason why we generally, in puberty, have acne, pimples, blackheads, whiteheads, and other tones of bacteria and viruses entering and causing the skin to swell and form marks.

If you ever ask or wonder why the endocrine system doesn't do like anything beneficial for us, then you may be wrong. It may also be not noticeable but the endocrine system is also significant in taking the role for our body to grow. Because without the endocrine system, we probably might die in another environment. Just for instances, our body's temperature is constant which is 37oC. And we all know, that we are supposed to die when we live in a colder or a hotter temperature. But why didn't it happen? That's because the power of our endocrine system takes over. It helps us regulate and maintain temperature in order for us to adapt our surroundings and environment whether it is changing or not.

The endocrine system is composed of small specific parts mainly locating in the specified parts of the body like in the brain, the small intestine, the neck, and even our genitals! Primarily, it is composed of the diencephalon which has four parts : pituitary gland, hypothalamus, thalamus, and pineal gland. Each part of the diencephalon has its own responsibilities and functions required to carry out. They are also considered as the major parts of the endocrine organs.

There are two types of feedback in an endocrine system : positive and negative. To differentiate the two, positive feedback increases the magnitude of a changes made by any other endocrine organs. While negative feedback only controls and monitors the whole system to bring disrupted homeostatic values back to point.

Aside from feedbacks, our endocrine system also has three basic ways of controlling and maintaining our body. First is neutral (relating to the nervous system), hormonal (controlled by the release of hormones from another gland), and humoral (controlled by body fluids).

Of all the diseases and disorders of the endocrine system I find the anabolic steroid most interesting. It is caused when steroid hormone levels are tightly controlled by the body leading to side effects. What also interests me is that the size of our body will be affected as well when we take too much steroids (drug). Meaning, that the size of a male's testes will decrease, bigger breasts, and higher cholesterol. Steroids are usually used for athletes to easily gain or lose weight in a much easier way. Researches say that people drinking steroids have much bigger bodies in an earlier time than people only taking regular exercises. That's why the government bans steroids for reasonable purposes.

Brain diseases

Like all other parts of the body, our brain also have several abnormalities and diseases that are risky. As generally known, the brain is one of the most important part of the body aside from the heart because it is the center of all the nervous system allowing us to sense danger, to think, and have intelligence. The brain also has several components that releases hormones such as the hypothalamus and pituitary gland that regulates other hormone controls and levels.

Here are some of the following diseases of the brain :

*Inflammation of the brain - leads to problems such as vision loss, weakness, and paralysis.

*Stroke - causes the loss of brain cells

*Brain tumors - presses on nerves affecting the brain function

*Alzheimer's disease - a genetic disease which is caused by unknown factors

*Paralysis - inability to control voluntary movements

a. spastic - characterized by muscle rigidity or increase muscle tone (hypertonia) and overactive reflexes (hypereflexia)

b. flaccid - characterized by floppy muscles decreasing reflexes (hyporeflexia) and muscle tone (hypotonia)

*Cerebral palsy - a collection of movement disorders that are not progressive occurring in childhood.

*Subdural hemetoma - a pool of blood between the dura mater and the arachnoid mater in the subdural space caused by head injuries.

*Huntington disease - a progressive genetic disorder causing detrioration of neurons in the basal nuclei and the cerebral cortex.

*Cerebral

The Brain and Disorders in the Nervous System

The brain is one of the most largest and important component of our body and the entire nervous system. Without it, dendrites and axons wouldn't be able to perform their tasks due to lack of commandments. Because the brain is responsible for telling our nerves to avoid danger. Our brain is mainly composed of cerebrum, cerebellum, and the brain stem. Cerebrum has a surface broken by ridges and grooves and is divided into longitudinal (right hemisphere) and fissure (left hemisphere). It is also divided into four sections : frontal(posterior), parietal(posterior), occipital(posterior), and temporal(inferior). Inside the temporal is the insula which is known for its coordinate autonomic function. Cerebellum is posterior to the brain. Its function is to monitor out sensory, motor coordination, and balance. It is also known as the "little brain". Brain stem is inferior covered by the cerebrum receiving sensory information. It has three sections : medulla oblongata, pons, and midbrain.

Inside the brain, we can find diencephalon. It is mainly divided into four parts : thalamus (for information to the cerebrum), hypothalamus (hormone level, temperature, water-balance, thirst, appetite, and emotion regulation), pineal body (for secretion of melatonin), and pituitary gland(for secretion of other hormones).

Here are the following common disorders of the nervous system :

*Myasthenia gravis - disorder in which the immune system attacks & destroys receptors at the neuromuscular junction.
*Guillain-Barre Syndrome - form of peripheral neuropathy caused by inflammation of pheripheral nerves
*Botulism - form of paralysis caused by toxins produced by the bacterium Clostridium botilinum.
*Meningitis - the disease of the meninges which is responsible for protecting the nerves.
a. Viral - milder disease caused by viruses entering the mouth and travel to the meninges
b. Bacterial - fatal infection causing bacteria to enter the upper respiratory system to the meninges

Nervous System

As all part of the system is significant in building up and maintaining our bodies, the nervous system is the one assisting the other parts of the body to perform their functions/task. The nervous system or known as the body's control center is often well known for the connection with the brain along with the spinal cord. That's why doctors say that we have to keep standing and sitting straight or else our spine won't be working that well. It's because the spine holds and protects the spinal cord which is responsible for the neurons, dendrites, and axons to do their tasks such as sending and receiving signals from the skin to the brain. Nervous system is divided into two types. First is the central nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord and the peripheral nervous sytem which cmposes of nervous outside of the brain and spinal cord. Peripheral nervous system has two types one is somatic and the other is autonomic. Somatic is the voluntary nerves such as the skeletal muscles while autonomic is the other way around such as smooth, cardiac muscles and glands. Autonomic has two branches. One is parasympathetic and the other is sympathetic. Parasympathetic is for maintenance and sympathetic is for the alert system.
The nervous system does not only compose of "vein-and-artery-like" structures, but it has its own tissue called the nervous tissue. This is the part where neuroglia and neurons came. Neuroglia has several functions and has four types of CNS cells. Astrocytes for metabolic and structural support, microglia for removal of debris, oligodendrocytes for lipid insulation (myelin), & ependymal cells for covering and lining of cavitites. Neurons, on the other hand, has two types of PNS cells. Schwann cells produce myelin and satellite cells support other different kinds of cells. Inside a neuron is made up of dendrites that receives information from the environment and the axon that sends signals to other cells. Note that synapses is a term that has the axon terminal and a receiving cell after sending signals.
Impulse conduction is the speed of how nerves send and receive signals to other cells, to the spinal cord, and to the brain. It can be determined through the presence of myelin and the diameter of the axon. Myelin is the lipid insulation produced by oligodendrocytes which is in the myelin sheath building up nodes of Ranvier similar to the muscles.
In the concept of chemical synapses, there are different types of cells. One is the polarized cells which has more negative charges, depolarized having positive charges, hyperpolarized which has twice the negative charges than the polarized and repolarization for converting negative to positive charge and vice versa.