Friday, November 21, 2014

Welcome to the world of Adrenal Gland!


Hi peeps! Glad you guys are visiting our new blog on the Adrenal Gland! To start of, we will introduce the anatomy of our wonderful Adrenal Glands. :)

Firstly, where are our adrenal glands found? They are basically neighbors of our kidneys! 
In other words, they are found sitting on the top of our kidneys.

Even through our adrenal glands lives very far away from our hypothalamus (which is found in the brain), they are actually very good business partners and without any one of them, the business (our body) will face huge problems.

Our adrenal gland is made up of two structures that produces hormones: the adrenal cortex and the adrenal medulla.


Even through this two structures are found in the same gland, but the hormones that they produced perform different functions.






Adrenal Cortex
Corticosteroid hormones
Aldosterone hormone
Androgenic steroids
Hydrocortisone
Corticosterone

Sex hormones
Controls the body’s metabolism of fats, proteins and carbohydrates

Plays a part in the immune system and suppresses inflammatory reactions.

Maintains the blood volume and pressure by inhibiting the amount of sodium being excreted into urine.

Does not have a huge impact as it is overshadowed by other hormones such as estrogen and testosterone.

Adrenal Medulla
Epinephrine (adrenaline)
Norepinephrine (noradrenaline)
Increases the heart rate and the force of heart contractions.

Results in more blood flow to the muscles, brain and quickens the conversion of glycogen to glucose in the liver.

Helps epinephrine in responding to stress by increasing the vasoconstriction of blood vessels thus increasing blood pressure.

Please stay tune to our next blog post for more information about our adrenal gland! Look forward to see you again! :)

Credits:
http://umm.edu/programs/diabetes/health/endocrinology-health-guide/adrenal-glands 

http://www.endocrineweb.com/endocrinology/overview-adrenal-glands

No comments:

Post a Comment