Page 30 - The Miracle of Hormones

THE MIRACLE OF HORMONES

The Miracle of Growth: The Growth Hormone

A one-year old baby is about twice as heavy and 50% as long as on
the day he was born. In one year, he gains weight at an amazing rate. He
also grows longer, and his body grows in proportion. What causes a
newly born baby who weighs three kilograms and is 50 centimeters long
at birth to become a fully grown adult weighing 80 kilograms and meas-
uring 1.80 meters twenty years later?
The answer to this question is hidden in the growth hormone found
in an amazing molecule secreted by the pituitary gland.
In order for a baby to become an adult, he must grow. The growing
process happens in two different ways. Some cells increase their bulk;
other cells divide and multiply. What directs and ensures these two proc-
esses is the growth hormone.
The growth hormone is secreted from the pituitary gland and af-
fects all of the cells of the body. Every cell knows the meaning of the mes-
sage sent to it from the pituitary gland. In compliance with this message,
it grows or multiplies.
For example, the heart of a newly born baby is about one-sixteenth
the size of an adult heart, yet the total number of cells in the baby's heart
is the same as that in the adult heart. As the body develops, the growth
hormone affects the heart cells individually. Every cell develops accord-

2 months: 1 ft 10 in 2 years:1 ft 10 in 4 years: 3 ft 8 in 7 years: 4 ft 12 years: 4 ft 10 in 20 years: 5 ft 10 in
(55 cm) (86 cm) (110 cm) (120 cm) (145 cm) (175 cm)
The growth hormone works like an expert sculptor. Over a period of time, it turns
a 50-cm. long baby into fully grown adult of 180 cm.