My lectures for the week have been primarily focused on the endocrine system and the delicate balance of hormones within our body. A topic this riveting usually produces a carnival-like atmosphere of excitement with the students, or maybe it is the exact opposite. Ask any health provider, and I bet they will tell you that their least favorite, and often least understood, subject was the endocrine system. I feel like this part of our body gets a bad reputation as not being important or being too difficult to understand. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and I can provide it to you.
First of all, our endocrine system is made up of glands that produce substances called hormones that work to balance many of the major activity within the body. Everyone is familiar with the pancreas, that pie-shaped organ in the upper part of our abdomen that produces insulin and glucagon. However, there are lots of other glands inside your body that work in a similar fashion to regulate everything from when you feel sleepy to blood pressure. Today, I want to focus on a pair of glands that you might only be vaguely aware of: the adrenal glands.
Before we talk about the adrenal glands, let’s understand how our endocrine system works, at a basic level. To begin, our body generally works off of a negative-feedback loop. That is to say, when it senses something that is out of the ordinary with your body functions, another action happens to correct this imbalance. For example, glucagon (which creates glucose inside the body) is released when it is sensed that there is too much insulin (which uses up glucose inside the body). Try to imagine two long lines of people that are standing single file in front of a fireplace. One group is continually passing down lit matches. Another group is constantly passing down thimbles of water. If more lit matches make it to the wood than water, there will be a fire. If more water makes it down, then the material will be wet and unable to burn. You, as the endocrine gland, have to make the decision of whether a fire is needed or not. You also have the control of how much water and how much fire makes it to the fireplace.
Now, back to the adrenal glands. These small and often neglected organs are in a pair, one on top of each kidney. They have a host of other useful benefits, but a main one is the release of the cortisol. Cortisol helps you respond to stress as well as other bodily functions. However, it is possible to receive too much cortisol in the body. When this happens, a person is said to have the hormonal disorder Cushing’s Syndrome. Cushing’s Syndrome can lead to a host of problems such as upper body obesity, severe fatigue, high blood pressure, and easy bruising. It also gives the classic round-faced appearance from weight gain and can lead to swelling of the eye lids. It is rumored that North Korean dictator Kim Jon-Un suffers from this disease.
The opposite problem of Cushing’s Syndrome is producing too little cortisol. This is called Addison’s disease. If that sounds familiar, it is because President John F. Kennedy suffered from it his entire life. Addison’s begins when an autoimmune disease mistakenly attacks the adrenal glands and causes their destruction. The result is a decrease in the amount of cortisol that is produced inside the body. Symptoms of Addison’s disease include weight loss, muscle weakness, low blood pressure, and achy joints. It also causes hyperpigmentation in the skin, or produces a bronze color in the cells. This is why JFK always appear to have a perfect tan, despite being from Massachusetts.
The only definitive way to confirm if you have some type of hormonal disease is to have lab work drawn. Our endocrine glands generally work on a response from somewhere else inside the body. This is a safety mechanism much like having two people turn a key to launch a missile: one rogue gland can’t decide to do the damage all on its own. For this reason, many of our glands have specific ‘stimulation’ and ‘inhibitor’ hormones that are produced from other glands elsewhere in the body. To determine if you are affected by a glandular disorder, your doctor will want to check the levels of not only the gland in question, but the other controlling glands as well. If you have any concerns, or note any of the above symptoms, take the time to talk to your physician about it. Otherwise, try to keep your hormones under control. Stay safe out there.
M. Eric Williams, MS, NR-P is a syndicated columnist and the Assistant Director of Emergency Medical Technology Education at Jones County Junior College. He is a current Doctoral researcher at Delta State University and has 15 years’ experience in Emergency Medicine. If you have questions or comments, you may contact him at eric.williams@jcjc.edu
