What is iron? What are its functions?

In the human body there is a whole system of glands, the work of which is responsible for ensuring the normal functioning of all internal organs. In medicine, this term is called "endocrine system." We often hear about it, but most of us have practically no idea about the vital properties of the endocrine glands.

Endocrine cells are present throughout the body. They are regulators of hormone production. A certain part of the cells of the endocrine system participates in the formation of the glandular apparatus. The internal secretion of glands ensures the production and delivery of hormones directly to the cells of the organs and the circulatory system.

Types of glands

The human body is unique. Each organ performs a certain function: the stomach digests food, the lungs enrich the body with oxygen, etc. What is iron, many people can not explain. It is an organ that produces active substances, different in chemical composition.

In the human body, there are two glandular systems:

• Endocrine consists of endocrine glands.
• Exocrine - from the glands of external secretion.

Functions

The endocrine system is the most complex self-regulating mechanism. In what its feature and what functions it performs, let's try to figure it out.

• Internal secretion makes adjustment of work of organs and systems.
• The psychoemotional state depends on the endocrine system.
• Reproductive functions directly depend on the hormonal background.
• Glands of internal secretion actively participate in various reactions, synthesizing certain substances.
• The development and growth of a person depends on the hormonal state.
• Thanks to the endocrine system, the stability of life processes is ensured, and immunity is produced. A person becomes resistant to changes in the external environment.

In various diseases, gland functions may need to be regulated, so doctors use drugs that help restore the hormonal background.

The endocrine system is quite fragile, and very often its work can be disturbed by certain factors:

• Nervous stress and stress.
• High radiation background.
• Strict diet.
• Lack of iodine in the body.
• Exposure to chemicals.

What are hormones?

What is iron, we have already figured out. Now let's try to find out the features of the product it produces. Highly active substances produced by glands are called hormones. They affect certain organs and systems of the body. But their influence is specific, as it is directed to a certain sphere of metabolic processes.

There are three groups of hormones that differ from one another in chemical structure:

• Steroids are fat-like substances. Such hormones are produced by the adrenal cortex and the sex glands.
• Peptides and proteins. These types of hormones include insulin and substances produced by the pituitary gland.
• Amino acids. This group includes adrenaline and thyroxine.

Hormones can affect the intensity of metabolic processes. They are responsible for the onset of puberty, tissue differentiation and growth.

The role of the pituitary gland in the endocrine system

What is the pituitary gland? What functions does it perform? Where is this body located? In the endocrine system, one of the most vital glands is the pituitary gland. This organ is a brain appendage. It is located at the base of the brain (in its middle part). The pituitary body is connected to the hypothalamus by a special pedicle. The gland weight is very small - 0.5 g.

The pituitary gland produces and synthesizes such hormones as:

• Gonadotropin affects the work of the sex glands and stimulates the production of hormones in them.
• Corticotropin is responsible for the production of hormones by the adrenal cortex.
• Somatotropin is a growth hormone.
• Thyrotropin acts as a regulator in the thyroid gland.
• Prolactin regulates lactation and fertility in women.
• Oxytocin has a stimulating effect on the contraction of the smooth muscles of such organs as the intestines, bile and bladder, and the uterus.
• Vasopressin reduces the excretion of urine, is responsible for the narrowing of the vessels.

What is the gland of internal secretion, we figured out. Now it is worthwhile to find out what other organs of the endocrine system are present in the human body.

Other glands

The thyroid gland is an organ, the mass of which is about 16 to 23 g. It produces hormones with iodine content: thyroxine, calcitonin, triiodothyronine. In case of violations in the work of the body, a myxedema disease can occur, which manifests itself in the form of an edema of the mucosa. A sick person has such symptoms:

• Deterioration of metabolic processes;
• Lowering of temperature;
• Delayed heart rate;
• Increase in body weight;
• Lethargy;
• Puffiness and dryness of the skin.

This disease occurs when there is a lack of iodine or when the activity of the gland itself decreases.

Disorders in the thyroid gland in children provoke the development of a disease such as cretinism. It causes dementia and a delay in physical development.

Consider what hormones produce other glands of the endocrine system:

• The pancreas belongs to a mixed type, since it performs an external secret function (the secretion of pancreatic juice for the cleavage of nutrients) and intrasecret (produces hormones such as insulin, glucagon, somatostatin, pancreatic polypeptide, intestinal vasoactive polypeptide).
• The adrenal glands are the organ that secretes the hormones of the adrenal medulla and cortex: dopamine, adrenaline, aldosterone, cortisol, etc. Disturbances in the work of the gland can provoke the development of addison (bronze) disease.

• The thymus gland produces thymosin, the hormone responsible for growth processes and immunity. Participates in the formation of lymphocytes.
• Parathyroid glands produce parathyroid hormone, which is involved in the synthesis of phosphorus and calcium.
• Sex glands belong to a mixed type. Intrasecretory function - the production of sex hormones: estrogen, androgen and progesterone. The external secretory function is the formation and isolation of female and male sexual cells (sperm and egg).

In the article we answered the question what is iron, we examined its role in the human body.