Page 71 - The Miracle of Hormones

The Rhythm Of Life:
The Thyroid Gland

a definite level have been created
and placed within the human body.
One of these remarkable systems is
the thyroxine hormone. The body
reaches a certain temperature as the
result of the activities of its 100 tril-
lion cells. We can compare these
cells to micro-heaters, and the won-
derful molecule that controls how
much heat each micro-heater must
produce is the thyroxine hormone.
It is in itself a wonder that cells
produce a certain amount of heat as
they do their work and that the Cells, which act as micro-heat-
ers, supply the heat needed by
total amount of heat produced by our bodies.
the 100 trillion cells is exactly the
amount that is required for human
beings to survive. Moreover, the thyroxine molecules know how much
heat the cells must produce. Together with all of this, the fact that the
cells know how they can act on the metabolism and raise the body's tem-
perature is one more wonder of creation.

A Delicate Control Mechanism

Ahighly advanced and organized system has been created to regu-
late the amount of thyroxine secreted. The secretion of thyroxine occurs
again as a result of a chain of command of a set of unconscious cells orga-
nized in a highly disciplined hierarchy.
When thyroxine is needed, the brain of the hormonal system—the
hypothalamus—sends a command (the TRH—Thyroid-releasing Hor-
mone) to the conductor of the hormonal system orchestra (the pituitary
gland). When it receives the command, the pituitary gland understands

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