University Biology Report: Endocrine System, Homeostasis, Diabetes

This report provides an overview of the endocrine system, detailing its function in regulating various bodily activities through the secretion of hormones. It highlights the roles of key glands like the pituitary, hypothalamus, adrenal, pancreas, thyroid, pineal, testes, and ovaries, and the hormones they produce. The report explains homeostasis, the body's internal equilibrium, and the positive and negative feedback mechanisms that regulate hormone secretion. Furthermore, it focuses on Diabetes Mellitus as a prominent endocrine disorder, particularly in Saudi Arabia, explaining the role of insulin, the causes of the disease, and potential treatments. The report references several studies and publications to support its findings.

Running head: ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
INTODUCTION
The endocrine system of the body is an important system that governs the delivery of
chemical signals to regulating various other organs and stimulates plethora of activities. The
chemical signals secreted by the organs included in this system are known as hormones.
These hormones are generally made up of amino acids and are proteinaceous in nature. The
hormones, with the help of circulatory system reaches other organs or system and stimulate it
to perform various activities. The control center for the endocrine system or the center, which
governs function of other related organs, are Pituitary gland and Hypothalamus present at the
base of the brain. The endocrine system contains a set of glands and cells that produces
various hormones as per the requirement of the body. The glands and the hormones they
secrete are as follows: adrenal gland producing adrenaline hormone, pancreas producing
insulin and glucagon, pituitary gland producing growth hormone, adenocorticotrophic gland,
follicle stimulating hormone and thyroid stimulating hormone, thyroid gland producing
thyroxine, pineal gland producing melatonin, testes in male producing testosterone and
ovaries in female producing oestrogen and progesterone (La Perle & Dintzis, 2018).
HOMEOSTASIS
Homeostasis can be defined as the state of the body in which the internal conditions
of a body remains to be constant. This is a state of dynamic equilibrium which is also
facilitated by proper balance of body temperature, pH, fluid and nutrient balance and normal
blood glucose level. The secretion of hormones by the associated endocrine glands occurs by
two mechanisms known as positive and negative feedback (Saxena et al., 2016). When
sufficient amount of hormone is secreted and no more of it is required, the hormone send a
negative feedback to the gland secreting it thus, inhibiting further secretion of the hormone.
On the other hand, when there is requirement of a particular hormone, positive feedback is

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ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
sent to the gland and hormone secretion initiates. This positive and negative feedback
mechanism is very much required for the proper regulation of homeostasis of the body. These
feedbacks help in controlling the mechanism of various gland and thus, keep the body
conditions constant and in equilibrium (Roder et al., 2016).
CONCLUSION
Diabetes Mellitus is one of the diseases that are a predominant endocrine disorder
found in Saudi Arabia. Insulin is a hormone that is secreted from the beta cells of pancreas.
The pancreas detects the increase in the level of glucose in the blood and secretes insulin, that
controls the level of glucose in the blood by breaking down the excess sugar. Diabetes
Mellitus is one of the diseases that are a predominant endocrine disorder found in Saudi
Arabia. It is a condition that arises when the pancreas present in the human body becomes
unable to secrete insulin in the correct proportion or when the body becomes unable to use up
the secreted insulin. Presence of high blood glucose level in the blood causes various
complications like kidney and eye issues. It can be treated by the administration of insulin
externally as per the requirement (Ministry of Health, 2020).

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ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
REFERENCES
La Perle, K. M. D., & Dintzis, S. M. (2018). Endocrine system. In Comparative Anatomy and
Histology (pp. 251-273). Academic Press.
Ministry of Health. (2020). Endocrine Diseases - Diabetes. Retrieved 12 April 2020, from
https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/HealthAwareness/EducationalContent/Diseases/
Endocrinology/Pages/001.aspx
Röder, P. V., Wu, B., Liu, Y., & Han, W. (2016). Pancreatic regulation of glucose
homeostasis. Experimental & molecular medicine, 48(3), e219-e219. https://doi.org/
https://doi.org/10.1038/emm.2016.6
Saxena, P., Charpin-El Hamri, G., Folcher, M., Zulewski, H., & Fussenegger, M. (2016).
Synthetic gene network restoring endogenous pituitary–thyroid feedback control in
experimental Graves’ disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, 113(5), 1244-1249. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1514383113