It’s truly a Brain’s World!
Did you know that the Pituitary Gland makes 10 different hormones?
Each one of these Pituitary Gland hormones communicate to all the other Endocrine glands and “tell” the other glands what to do. For example, Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Luteinizing Hormone (LH) are hormones that the Pituitary gland secretes to tell the Ovaries to make more or less Estrogen, Testosterone and Progesterone. There is a constant state of communication going on between the brain and the Endocrine organs that keep our Endocrine glands informed on how much of their particular hormone to make and when to release it out into the blood stream.
For instance, if the brain senses that you need more Estrogen to help grow hair, skin and nails, or needs Estrogen to help stimulate the thyroid hormone, or build up the uterine wall in preparation for ovulation, or heal a dry vagina, or stimulate digestive juices to digest food, or even need more Estrogen to think more quickly and creatively… the brain will send a signal to the ovaries to make more Estrogen for all these potential needs the brain senses going on.
Though there are certain levels of hormones in the blood stream that are considered within a normal range, it is the brain who is actually keeping these levels stable. The brain does this by sensing the body’s needs. That means that it wasn’t the researchers in Medicine who determine normal reference ranges, it’s the BRAIN that determines them.
And since all of the organs work together, if there is a problem with one Endocrine gland, the rest of the body is going to be effected and the brain will come in and try hard to maintain homeostasis. That is the brain’s job and focus – to Maintain Balance as much as it can.. It’s truly a Brain’s World!
Just like the brain will make your heart pump faster and make you breath faster if it needs more Oxygen, the brain will also stimulate your Endocrine organs to make more hormones if it senses you are getting low on a hormone you need to perform healthy functions. The brain will also send out a signal to make LESS Hormone if it senses that you need LESS. In Science, this is called a Feedback loop system.
A feedback loop system is nothing more than a thermostat. When you set your air-conditioner or heater to 70 degrees, the thermostat will send a message to the compressor to turn on and off to maintain 70 degrees in your house. (And yes, there is a such thing as having a problem with this “Thermostat”, resulting in the inability of the brain to communicate properly to the rest of the body. But that is another blog for another day.)
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