Endocrine sytem

There are a number of organs in the body which are largely -- if not entirely -- devoted to the production and distribution of these chemical hormones throughout a body. These hormones act as sort of "messengers", carried by the bloodstream, to different cells in the bodies, which then interpret the messages and act on them. This is called the Endocrine System, and there is an entire field devoted to its study (See: Endocrinology).

The aforementioned offending organs are as follows:

1. Hypothalami: Releasing and Inhibiting hormones (TRH, GnRH, ...)
2. Pituatary Glands: Growth Homrone (ACTH, TSH, FSH, LH, Prolactin, ADH, Oxytocin)
3. Thyroid Glands: Thyroxine, Triiodothyronine, Calcitonin
4. Parathyroid Glands: Parathyroids
5. Pancreata: Insulin and Glucagon
6. Adrenal Glands: Cortisol, Aldosterone, Epinephrine, Norepinephrine\
7. Testes: Testosterone
8. Ovaries: Estrogen, Progesterone

Endocrines are used in a variety of ways by the body in order to regulate and control certain functions. For example, if a human's blood glucose concentration drops very far below 1 mg/ml, it can bring on neural troubles, leading ultimately to coma and then death. Because the diet is an essential portion of the glucose a human digests in his or her daily life, logic would suggest that by skipping breakfast, that one such human has ensured their quick and timely demise. This would be so, if it weren't for hormones:

As soon as the body detects a drop in blood/glucose ratios, it sends chemical messengers -- the aforementioned hormones -- into the blood stream, which in turn stimulate metabolic pathways, which raise or decrease the blood-glucose levels back into the normal range.

Organs aren't the sole way for endocrines to be send into the body either; there are a host of specific cells which secrete hormones independently. These are called the "diffuse" endocrine system, and include myocytes in the heart (atria) and epithelial cells in the stomach and small intestines. In fact, if one were to classify any chemical excretions in the term "homrone," every cell in the human body could be considered a part of the endocrine system.

Every organ, organelle and cell in the entire body is influenced by the secretion and interpretation of endocronic messages.