Endocrine

• Function of the endocrine system

  Interacts with the nervous system to coordinate and control the activities in your body
• Hormones


  Chemical messengers secreted by cells into extracellular fluids
• Functions regulated by hormones

  • Reproduction
  • Growth and development
  • Blood nutrient balance
  • Cellular metabolism
  • Mobilizing body defenses for the immune system
• Nervous system


  • Uses APs and neurotransmitters
  • Immediate responses
  • Short-term responses
  • Acts at specific locations the axon brings signals to (short distance)
• Endocrine system


  • Uses hormones released in blood
  • Delayed responses
  • Long-term responses
  • Acts at target locations that the hormones diffuse to via the blood (long distance)
• The nervous system and endocrine system work together to regulate, integrate, and coordinate your body's functions on a cellular level
• Action potentials (APs)


  Electrical signals in the nervous system
• Exocrine glands


  Externally secreting; release nonhormonal substances, like sweat and saliva, through ducts to the body's surface
• Endocrine glands


  Internally secreting; ductless; release hormones into surrounding tissue fluid (like blood)
• Key endocrine glands


  • Pituitary
  • Thyroid
  • Parathyroid
  • Adrenal
  • Pineal
• Other key endocrine structures

  • Hypothalamus
  • Pancreas
  • Gonads
  • Placenta