What is the Number of Hormones in the Human Body? What are the Features and Functions of Hormones?

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Hormones and Their Roles

The word “hormone” means “to stimulate, to activate”. Hormones are chemical messengers for growth, development, reproduction, provision of certain metabolic events in our body and for the body to function in a healthy way. Hormones are secreted from the glands in our body and carried to other tissues through the blood and show their effects. Although it is secreted very little in amount, it has strong effects. For this reason, they act as a type of messenger. They tell the cell they are transported to how to behave. Although secreted in very small amounts, hormones do a great job in the body.

Twenty-five years ago, about 20 hormones were known, but today, more than 200 hormones have been discovered. Today, it has been shown that the brain, intestines and heart produce hormones.

What Are the Types of Hormones?

Hormones are either in the form of steroids or proteins in chemical structure. Steroid hormones are hormones made from cholesterol and do not lose their activity in the stomach when taken orally. On the other hand, when hormones with protein structure are taken orally, they are broken down in the stomach and lose their effect. For this reason, the hormones in the protein structure cannot be taken orally as drugs and are made by injection. For example, the hormone insulin…

What Are the Functions of Hormones?

The main tasks of hormones can be listed in 3 main groups:

• Growth and differentiation

• Ensuring body balance

• Reproduction

Many hormones are effective in growth. Growth hormone and thyroid hormones are the most important of these.

Many hormones play a role in maintaining body balance. These hormones and their functions are as follows:

• Thyroid hormones > control 25% of basal metabolism in most tissues

• Cortisol > facilitates the effects of many hormones other than its direct effects

• Parathyroid hormone > provides calcium and phosphorus balance

• Vasopressin > provides body water balance

• Aldosterone > they control the amount of body fluid and serum electrolytes (Na and K)

• Insulin > ensures normal blood sugar in fasting and satiety.

When blood sugar falls, our body tries to increase blood sugar by giving a hormonal response to it. Insulin secretion decreases in hunger and in cases of low blood sugar. Accordingly, glucose uptake of tissues decreases, while glucose (sugar) production from the liver increases.

Although the removal of water from the body is mainly controlled by the hormone called vasopressin, cortisol and thyroid hormones are also effective in this regard.

Parathyroid hormone and vitamin D act in coordination and provide blood calcium balance. Parathyroid hormone increases the synthesis of vitamin D in the kidneys. Vitamin D, on the other hand, increases the absorption of calcium from the intestines and strengthens the effect of parathyroid hormone in the bones. An increase in blood calcium decreases the secretion of parathyroid hormone.

In any stress situation in the body, it activates a large number of hormones, depending on the severity of the stress, whether it is acute (sudden) or chronic (continuous-continuous).

Glands of Hormones:

Hormones are made and secreted in the hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, pineal gland, pancreas, adrenal gland, ovaries, and testicles. In addition, there is hormone production in the brain and intestines.

The hormone must be transported from the cell in which it is produced to the tissue (target tissue) where it will act.

The naming of hormones is usually made according to the tissue in which they are first found or their major effects. However, today it is known that the same hormone is produced in different tissues.

Secretion and Transport of Hormones

Hormones are released from the gland in an active or less active state. Inactive ones become active later. Hormones are secreted from the glands into the blood. Thyroid hormone turns into T3 hormone in order to act on T4 cells. The testosterone hormone then becomes dihydrotestosterone in order to be effective in the cell again.

Hormones are transported in the blood by binding to certain proteins. Very few are found free. Sex hormones bind to SHBG protein, thyroid hormones bind to TBG protein.

What is a receptor?

The structure to which the hormones bind in the cell is called the “receptor”.

The biological effects of hormones occur after binding to these receptors. If you think of receptors as locks, hormones act as a key and they open this lock and show their effects in the cell.

All receptors have at least 2 different functional parts. One of them is the “recognition region” that recognizes and binds to the hormone, and the second is the “stimulus transmission region” that transmits the stimulus.

Do Hormones Interact With Each Other?

Hormones interact with each other. The balance of the body is provided by this interaction. In our daily life, while we feed, rest and work, some hormones increase while others decrease. The level of a hormone in the blood differs according to the state of the body.

How Are Hormones Measured?