Anatomy & Physiology › Section O · The endocrine system › Topic O.1
The endocrine system and hormones
Growth, metabolism, fluid balance and reproduction are all steered by hormones, chemical messengers carried in the blood. Knowing how a hormone reaches its target and what happens when it binds explains why some act in seconds and others take hours.
In this topic
- Two systems for long-distance messages
- Glands, hormones and target cells
- Local chemical signals
- Three chemical classes of hormone
- Lipid-soluble hormones act on genes
- Water-soluble hormones use second messengers
- Worked example: glucagon reaches a liver cell
- What shapes a target cell's response
- Controlling hormone levels
- Worked example: a falling hormone level
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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