Endocrinology: Past, Present and Future

Have you ever wondered why when we were kids we really don't care about our looks, how we wear clothes and all we do is play, play, play until we turn in sleeping like we haven't slept for days? Yes, yes I did all this child's play when I was at my younger years (If you didn't experienced this, you're missing half of your childhood). 


In just a blink of an eye, 10 or 15 years after I'm all grown up, I can still do those things when I was child but it'll feel awkward in-front of grown ups like me. So why am I telling you all of these childhood memories, grown up stuffs, blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. well it's because I want you  to ask yourself, why is there a big difference between you and your appearance when you are still a child. Simple my friend, It's all because of how our hormones functions and aids in regulating activities in our body. 


I would like to discuss furthermore how hormones are very important chemical substance that affects our growth, metabolism, emotions and physiological activities but first how is hormone released? The term Endocrinology is a branch of science and medicine, and studies how hormones plays important role in our body. 

Image credited: http://9gag.com/gag/1310308

Our endocrine system is a registry of glands that releases hormones that modulate our body's physiological activities, puberty and sexual development. The hormones are discharged into the bloodstream and carried to organs and tissues throughout our body. The endocrine system works with the nervous system to help our body develop properly.

There are three groups of hormones:

• Steroid hormones - Secreted by our adrenal glands and gonads (testis and ovary)
• Amino acid derivatives - Secreted by our pituitary gland like epinephrine, nor-epinephrine 
• Peptide hormones - Secreted by our anterior (prolactin) and posterior (antidiuretic hormone/vasopressin) pituitary glands proteins, like insulin

So maybe now you're having an idea what really is Endocrinology or simply our hormones do to our body. Interesting right? Keep reading if you want to learn more. OK, so here is another experience I would like to share to all of you my dear readers. Lately I've been asking myself why does my younger brother is taller than me though I'm 2 years older than him. For my part as his "kuya", It is kinda awkward when I'm with him then friends of him asks, is he your younger brother? simply my reaction and response to them would be like, uhmmm, Isn't obvious that I look older than him? 

Image credited: http://9gag.com/gag/2555028

So yeah, Even though you're older than someone and looks younger than him or her, don't blame yourself this is again because of how our Hormones react to our system. In our case with my brother this is because of his Growth Hormones. 

Image credited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Endocrine_growth_regulation.svg

Growth Hormones are part of the Amino Acid derivatives mentioned above which is part of the three groups of hormones. These naturally occurring hormones are secreted by our Pituitary gland found inferiorly to our hypothalamus and helps in regulating the growth of our bones and muscles in our body. It is also plays an important role in how the body uses food for our everyday fuel. This explains why such people who are younger in age looks older by their built and height.