HORMONES

Hormones are chemical messengers carried in the blood from endocrine organs to target organs. They help to
co-ordinate metabolic processes in your body.
Hormone Endocrine
glands
Target organs Effects of hormone
Adrenalin Adrenal gland Vital organs - liver,
heart, etc.
Fight or flight reaction
Anti-diuretic hormone Pituitary gland Kidney Very concentrated urine produced
by kidneys
Follicle stimulating
hormone
Pituitary gland Ovaries, uterus Follicles in ovary develop
Glucagon Adrenal gland Liver Glycogen converted to glucose in
liver
Insulin Islets of
Langerhans
Liver Lowering blood sugar level
Oestrogen Ovaries Female reproductive
organs
Development of organs
Progesterone Ovaries Pituitary gland Prevents secretion of FSH
Testosterone Testes Male reproductive
organs
Development of organs
Thyroxine Thyroid gland n/a Increased metabolic rate
Match up the LETTERS WITH THE NUMBERS

A the "fight or flight" reaction. G the adrenal gland.
B makes the kidney work harder. H switch the secretion of a hormone off.
C FSH. I the liver.
D endocrine glands. testosterone.
! "ancreas. # ins$lin.
F switch the secretion of a hormone on. % the islets of %angerhans.
&. Adrenalin is secreted 'y... (. )he follicle stim$lating hormone is also called...
*. Chemical messengers are "rod$ced 'y... +. An effect of negative feed'ack can 'e to...
,. Ins$lin affects... -. A stim$l$s can...
.. Adrenalin "rod$ces... /. )he testes can "rod$ce a hormone called...
0. )he anti1di$retic hormone... &2. )he islets of %angerhans are fo$nd in...
HOMEOSTASIS
Homeostasis means keeping the internal body conditions constant.
1. Homeostasis
All the cells in our bodies are surrounded by a liquid called tissue fluid which has exactly the right conditions
in which cells can work. Tissue fluid has the right temperature, the right amount of glucose and the right
amounts of water and salt. Homeostasis is an important process that maintains these conditions at the right
level.
Wise-up
Keeping a constant body temperature is called thermoregulation.
Keeping a constant amount of water and salts in the blood is called osmoregulation.
Keeping a constant blood sugar level is called glucoregulation.

2. Thermoregulation
The enzymes in the body work best at 37 degrees centigrade (body temperature). The temperature of the
body is monitored by a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. If you are too hot or too cold the
hypothalamus sends nerve impulses to the skin, which responds as follows:
Muscles are also sent messages when you are cold. They make you shiver, warming you up.
3. Osmoregulation
The hypothalamus also monitors the water content of your body. If you have too much water your cells swell
up and may burst, too little and your cells will lose water by osmosis.
When the hypothalamus senses too little water in the blood it sends messages to the pituitary gland which
releases the anti-diuretic hormone (ADH). ADH stops the kidneys removing water from the blood.
Too much water in the blood stops the hypothalamus signalling the pituitary gland to make ADH, so water is
removed from the blood by the kidneys.
4. Glucoregulation
Insulin is a hormone that reduces the level of glucose in the blood.

When the blood sugar level rises, the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas release insulin into the blood.
Insulin makes the liver turn glucose into glycogen, which is stored. This brings the blood sugar level down.
When blood sugar levels are low, the pancreas stops producing insulin, releasing glucose into the blood.
This is an example of negative feedback, which you will need to know about for your exam. For more about
this look at the Revision Bite on Hormones in this topic area.
Insulin is necessary for the proper respiration of glucose. Some people cannot make insulin, so they have to
inject it. If they don't they may go into a coma. People with diabetes have to be very careful with their
carbohydrate intake (how much they eat).
5. Sample exam question and answer
Read this typical exam question and think about how you might answer it in your exam. Three different
answers are given with an examiners view on each.
The question : Explain how your body is cooled on a very hot day.
Answer 1: You sweat.
Examiner's view: Yes, this student was right, but the answer is worth only one mark as they only made one
point and did not explain in more detail.
Answer 2: The hypothalamus detects a rise in body temperature so you start to sweat and this cools you
down.
Examiner's view: This is just worth three marks. This student says three things: a) the hypothalamus
detects a change in body temperature, b) when you are too hot you sweat, and c) sweating cools you down.
Answer 3: An increase in body temperature is detected by a part of the brain called the hypothalamus.
Messages are sent to the sweat glands telling them to secrete sweat. When the sweat evaporates it takes
heat from the skin. You also vasodilate, this means that blood carries more heat into the skin, the heat is lost
to the air and you cool down.
Examiner's view: Superb! This is a complete answer, the student even used the word vasodilate and
explained it.
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
When you have eaten carbohydrates
(potatoes, bread, rice or pasta) your
digestive system releases large
quantities of glucose from the food.
This glucose is absorbed into the
blood. High levels of glucose in the
blood will cause problems so the
sugar level must be returned to
normal as soon as possible.
Nerves are about more than exam fright! Here you'll revise the ways that parts of the body, like your eyes and
brain, can communicate with each other.
1. Receptor cells
Your environment is sensed by receptor cells which are often part of a sense organ.
Sense organs detect stimuli such as touch (by receptors in the skin), taste (receptors in the tongue),
smell (the nose), sight (the eyes) and hearing (the ears).
When a receptor is stimulated the information is carried along neurones as electrical signals.
A neurone is a nerve cell.
2. Neurones
Sensory neurones carry information from the receptor to the spinal cord and brain.
Intermediate neurones carry information from one part of the central nervous system to another.
Motor neurones carry messages out of the brain or spinal cord to muscles and other effector organs.
An effector organ is any organ which has an effect; it could be a muscle contracting to move your
arm, a muscle squeezing saliva out of your salivary gland or even an endocrine gland squirting a
hormone into your blood.

3. Reflex arcs
A reflex arc is a nerve pathway which produces a fast, simple automatic response when it is stimulated. It
does not matter how brainy you are; you will always pull your hand off a very hot object without thinking
about it. This is in-built or innate behaviour and we all behave in the same way.
The stimulus is the pain you feel when you touch the hot object. This sends a message (an impulse)
along a sensory neurone to the spinal cord. Here the impulse is carried along a relay neurone which
passes it to a motor neurone. The motor neurone carries the impulse to the effector (in this case a muscle
which which pulls your hand away from the hot object).
The gap between two neurones is called a synapse.
CNS The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord.
Neurone This is a nerve cell. It carries an electrical message or impulse when it is stimulated.
Sensory Sensory neurones carry messages from sense organs into the CNS.
Motor Motor neurones carry messages out of the CNS to effector organs.
Intermediate
neurones
These nerve cells carry messages around the CNS.
Sense organ For example, the eye, ear, taste buds, skin, nose.
Effector organ A muscle or gland which has an effect when it is turned on by a motor neurone.
Reflex arc A nerve pathway which produces an automatic response.
Stimulus For example, light, heat, sound, gravity, smell, taste, or temperature.
Response This is the effect produced by an effector organ, for example you salivate when you taste
something.
Co-ordination This means producing a sensible response when you are stimulated. For example, when you
taste something nice you salivate, you don't scratch your toe.
Innate
behaviour
This is the automatic response produced by reflex arcs, for example knee jerk reflex,
withdrawal reflex, blinking, salivating.
Learnt
behaviour
This is complex behaviour. We don't all respond in the same way to a specific stimulus, for
example some people don't eat chocolate cake because they have learnt that it makes them
ill, even though they like the taste.