Page 26 - The Cell in 40 Topics

The Cell in 40 Topics

Figure 13.
The hormones involved in the
production of mother's milk
work just like skilled, con-
scious technicians and work-
ers in a factory. Every detail
is a manifestation of the infi-
nite knowledge and mind of
God.

tion resembling the pressure on a brake pedal in a car moving downhill.
The tendency of the car is to keep rolling freely downhill, but it will not do
so as long as the brake pedal is pushed down. In the human body, milk pro-
duction is suppressed.
Halting the production of the hormone prolactin is a very wise deci-
sion, since there is no point a mother producing milk being before her baby
is even born. So how does this "brake pedal" in question function? How is
prolactin kept from being secreted earlier than it's required? Here, a perfect
system must be factored in. The hypothalamus region of the mother's brain
secretes a hormone that suppresses the production of prolactin. This hor-
mone, known as for prolactin-inhibiting hormone (or PIH for short) slows
the production of prolactin, thus putting a brake on its secretion.How is the
depression of the brake pedal established? The hormone known as estro-
gen, with the chemical formula C H O , is produced during pregnancy,
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and permits the hypothalamus to secrete PIH (Figures 14, 15). Secretion of

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