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The Endocrine System

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Starting in the head and neck area one will find the hypothalamus, pineal gland, parathyroid glands, pituitary gland, and thyroid gland. Some of the functions of the hypothalamus, which is part of the brain, are to regulate body temperature, thirst, sleep, mood, hunger, and the release of other hormones in the body. The function pineal gland is to control circadian and circannual rhythms, and the release of melatonin. The function of the parathyroid glands is to mainly to control calcium levels in the body. The functions of the pituitary gland secrete various hormones for various functions. The function of the thyroid gland is to increase the metabolic rate to speed digestion. Now that the endocrine glands of the head and neck area have been introduced, now the glands of the upper and lower torso will be introduced and overviewed. The endocrine gland located in the upper torso is the thymus gland, in the lower torso the adrenal glands, pancreas, and testis/ovaries can be found. The function of the thymus gland is to stimulate the production and maturation of T Lymphocytes. The functions of the adrenal glands are the raising of glucose levels, the reabsorption of sodium and the excretion of potassium, and the stimulating of reproductive organs that bring about sex characteristics. The function of pancreas is to regulate blood glucose levels. And finally the function of the testis/ovaries is to stimulate sex characteristics. All of these glands make up the Endocrine System.

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