Page 82 - The Miracle of Hormones

THE MIRACLE OF HORMONES

question reveals another wonder of creation. Buried inside the thyroid
gland is another hormonal gland called the parathyroid. In order to en-
sure the balance of calcium in the body, this gland, working cooperative-
ly with others, puts a highly intelligent plan into effect. The only function
of the parathyroid is to measure how much calcium there is in our blood;
it does this day and night throughout our whole lives, to keep the pro-
portion of calcium at the ideal level.
Through the agency of a specially designed hormone that it produces
(parathormone), the parathyroid regulates the level of calcium in the
blood. If the level of calcium in the blood drops, it immediately secretes
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parathormone. This demonstrates a very important point: at the begin-
ning of this section we asked whether you could determine the amount of
calcium in a container of blood placed in front of you. We determined that,
without laboratory devices specially designed for this task, you would not

Anterior view Thyroid cartilage

On the right, we see
the parathyroid
glands. When the Thyroid gland
amount of calcium in
the blood falls, the
Trachea
parathyroid releases a
wonderfully designed Posterior view
hormone called para-
Pharynx
thormone. It is
remarkable that a
piece of flesh can
recognize calcium,
measure it and make a
decision based on the
results of that meas- Esophagus
urement. Parathyroid
glands

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