Hormones & Their Effects

Age Range 14-16Age Range 16-19
Previous Page Next Page

Page 1 of 10

  • Hormones and their Effects
  • Where are the Endocrine Glands?
  • Sex Hormones - Puberty
  • Sex Hormones - The Menstrual Cycle
  • Sex Hormones - Pregnancy
  • Insulin
  • More Hormones - Growth Hormones
  • More Hormones - Adrenaline & ADH
  • Plant Hormones
  • Quiz - Hormones

Jump to the Page

What are hormones?

Hormones are chemical substances in the body. They are made by endocrine glands which pass the hormones directly into the bloodstream. They are carried around the body in the blood and, in this way, hormones can cause changes at some distance from the gland where they were made.

Contents

What do hormones do?

A woman with a blank face holds two faces, one happy and one sad
Good day? Bad day? Hormones can make the difference.

Many processes in the body are coordinated by hormones which regulate and balance the working of organs and cells.

Some hormones have long term effects, for example, the hormones that control how we grow and the changes that happen at puberty. Other hormones have shorter term effects.

Too much, or too little, of a hormone can cause illness. Synthetic hormones, developed bydjf pharmaceutical companies, have resulted in a great improvement in the quality of life of patients suffering from many of these illnesses.

Using this e-source

There are a number of interactive features in this e-source:

  • A glossary of terms: any word with a glossary entry is highlighted like this.
  • Quick questions: at the end of a page/section, there is a set of quick questions to test your understanding of the scientific ideas.
  • Roll over diagrams: many of the diagrams have highlights or sequences. You can see these by rolling your cursor over part of the picture or part of the text.
Hormone
A chemical messenger produced by a particular gland or cells of the endocrine system. Hormones are transported throughout the body in the blood stream but they produce a response only in specific target cells.
Endocrine gland
A type of gland which secretes a hormone which passes directly into the blood stream rather than into the blood via a tube or duct.
Gland
A group of cells which produce and secrete a particular substance. Many glands pass their secretions into a tube or duct, whereas endocrine glands secrete hormones directly into the blood.
Organ
A structure with a particular function which is made up of different tissues.
Cell
The basic unit from which all living organisms are built up, consisting of a cell membrane surrounding cytoplasm and a nucleus.
Puberty
The time of gradual development of the secondary sexual characteristics and sexual maturity.
Glossary
A list of often difficult or specialized words with their definitions

Previous PageNext PageTop of Page