Endocrine system

The endocrine system is a system of glands, each of which secretes a type of hormone to regulate the body. The field of study that deals with disorders of endocrine glands is endocrinology, a branch of the wider field of internal medicine. The endocrine system is an information signal system much like the nervous system. Hormones regulate many functions of an organism, including mood, growth and development, tissue function, and metabolism. The t... more

The endocrine system is a system of glands, each of which secretes a type of hormone to regulate the body. The field of study that deals with disorders of endocrine glands is endocrinology, a branch of the wider field of internal medicine. The endocrine system is an information signal system much like the nervous system. Hormones regulate many functions of an organism, including mood, growth and development, tissue function, and metabolism. The typical mode of cell signaling in the endocrine system is endocrine signaling. However, there are also other modes, i.e., paracrine, autocrine, and neuroendocrine signaling. Purely neurocrine signaling between neurons, on the other hand, belongs completely to the nervous system. The endocrine system is made up of a series of ductless glands that produce chemicals called hormones. A number of glands that signal each other in sequence is usually referred to as an axis, for example, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Typical endocrine glands... less