By Ajitesh Sharma
Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash
During the course of human life, various types of hormones are being used for ultimately one goal. Keeping the body alive.The Endocrine system is in command of all of these hormones. The Pituitary gland, situated at the base of your brain, is in charge of making some hormones. Since the human body is a complex thing to control, there are almost 50 hormones (that humans have discovered)that control various parts of our life, from energy levels to metabolism.
First, what are hormones?
Hormones are “chemicals that coordinate different functions in your body-by carrying messages through your blood to your organs, skins, muscles, and other tissues-”. This basically summarizes that hormones are the “boss” of such organs. They give out instructions for various tissues on what to do if something happens, and how to do it.
Metabolism, “is a chemical reaction taking place inside each cell of a living organism, that provides food for processes or creating something.”
There are two main sub processes that make up metabolism: anabolism and catabolism.
Catabolism is like metabolism, except instead it doesn’t require energy but rather creates energy throughout the body by breaking down substances inside the body to create energy.
Anabolism is like metabolism, except it requires energy to start the process. This is because it uses the remnants of what catabolism has broken down, in order to create a new substance, something useful to the body.
This is basically how humans grow, by breaking down substances they’ve consumed through Catabolism, and then using Anabolism to restructure the remnants into a new substance, ranging from bone to tissue.
The Thyroid Gland, located near the front of your neck controls the speed of metabolism, doing so by excreting various hormones being:
“Thyroxine (T4)”
“Triiodothyronine (T3)”
“Reverse triiodothyronine (RT3)”
“Calcitonin”
These hormones are also called the thyroid hormones.
Energy levels are an important thing to keep track of during a human’s lifetime. It can change the way you do your work or reproduce. Metabolism directly correlates with this, as the better metabolism (meaning the better food, activity, sleep you get), the better your energy levels feel. This is because Catabolism is creating more “healthy” energy, which can replicate into your mood and health.
Hormones are also a big reason why mood exists. Without certain ones, you couldn’t feel the adrenaline pumping through your body, or that little tingling sensation in your mind.
The most common mood-related hormones are:
Corticotropin-releasing hormone.
Dopamine.
Oxytocin
Thyrotropin-releasing hormone.
Serotonin
Corticotropin-releasing hormone is actually a hormone that releases another hormone from the pituitary gland, the Adrenocorticotropic hormone. This in turn (again) releases another hormone after traveling through the adrenal gland, which is above the kidney, called cortisol, which is like a stress hormone.
Corticotropin is also used to suppress appetite in the brain, induce anxiety, and help cognitive functions in the brain like memory or focus. And, as you can probably guess, Corticotropin is used and released during a stressful situation, telling the body what to do, and how to do it.
Dopamine is a hormone and a neurotransmitter (meaning it transfers chemical messages throughout your brain). It does a bunch of stuff that human’s take for granted in both of it’s functionalities.
As a neurotransmitters it:
Movement.
Memory.
Pleasurable reward and motivation.
Behavior and cognition.
Attention.
Sleep and arousal.
Mood.
Learning.
Lactation.
While as a hormone, it:
Causes blood vessels to relax (at low doses, it acts as a vasodilator) or constrict (at high doses, it acts as a vasoconstrictor).
Increases sodium (salt) and urine removal from your body.
Reduces insulin production in your pancreas.
Slows gastrointestinal (GI) (gut) content movement and protects your GI lining.
Reduces lymphocyte activity in your immune system.
These are all common processes in the flight-flee-freeze response, the primal instinct that humans have when faced in stress.
Oxytocin is often called the love hormone. It’s primary use is to help a woman during labor by producing milk and contracting uterus muscles. It is also used to make a bond between the mom and the child. It is also released during sex and when you fall in love.
Some effects of Oxytocin in love are:
relaxation
trust
overall psychological stability
It is produced by the hypothalamus and then put into the bloodstream by the pituitary gland. Oxytocin is also related to physical feedback, like as a baby is sucking a woman’s breast, more oxytocin is released.
Thyrotropin-releasing hormone is another releasing hormone that stems from the hypothalamus (TBC)
Serotonin along with dopamine is also a neurotransmitter and hormone.
As a neurotransmitter it:
influencing learning
memory, happiness
regulating body temperature
sleep
sexual behavior
hunger
Serotonin is also referred to as the “natural” feel-good chemical, as it is produced from natural, non human ways. These are vital functions in a human, but Serotonin is most commonly found in the intestines to help fasten digestion and pass through common materials. Unlike most of these hormones, Serotonin isn’t produced in the body, but rather from amino acids in meat or lentils.
These hormones and neurotransmitters are key to human survival, and without them, humanity would probably not exist.
MCR Committee: Physiology
Works cited:
Professional, C. C. M. (n.d.). Hormones. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22464-hormones
Professional, C. C. M. (n.d.). Dopamine. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22581-dopamine
Kornberg, H. (2024, March 1). metabolism. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/metabolism
Corticotrophin-releasing hormone | You and Your Hormones from the Society for Endocrinology. (n.d.). https://www.yourhormones.info/hormones/corticotrophin-releasing-hormone
Harvard Health. (2023, June 13). Oxytocin: The love hormone. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/oxytocin-the-love-hormone
The connection between hormones and mood: Salem Wellness Clinic: Naturopathic doctors. (n.d.). https://www.salemwellnessclinic.com/blog/the-connection-between-hormones-and-mood