Page 25 - The Miracle of Hormones

The Two Governors Of Our Body:
The Hypothalamus And The Pituitary Gland

istics. For example, the pituitary gland has been called "the conductor of
the endocrine (hormone) orchestra." This gland has also been compli-
mented as "the master gland." At the same time, the pituitary gland has
been described as an "extraordinary biological wonder."
The pituitary gland deserves these compliments because of the
twelve different hormones it produces and the control it exercises over
the hormonal system. This gland not only produces hormones that affect
particular tissue cells, but also organizes the work of other hormonal
glands far distant from it.
If we recall that the hormonal glands are organs that organize the
activities of the cells in the body by giving them certain commands, the
importance of the pituitary gland becomes all the more apparent. Since
the pituitary gland does not stop at giving orders to many cells in the
body, it also gives commands to hormonal glands that themselves trans-
mit orders to other cells in the body. In this sense, it functions as a direct-
or of directors.
For example, it sends a command to the thyroid gland when condi-
tions require the secretion of the thyroid hormone. In the same way, it is-
sues commands to the adrenal glands, to the testes in the male body, and
to the ovaries and the milk glands in the female body.
An important question is:
How do the pituitary gland and the cells which form it know "the