Functions
Hormones secreted from the pituitary gland help control the following body processes:
- Growth (Excess of HGH can lead to gigantism and acromegaly.)
- Blood pressure
- Some aspects of pregnancy and childbirth including stimulation of uterine contractions during childbirth
- Breast milk production
- Sex organ functions in both males and females
- Thyroid gland function
- The conversion of food into energy (metabolism)
- Water and osmolarity regulation in the body
- Water balance via the control of reabsorption of water by the kidneys
- Temperature regulation
- Pain relief
Read more about this topic: Pituitary Gland
Famous quotes containing the word functions:
“Mark the babe
Not long accustomed to this breathing world;
One that hath barely learned to shape a smile,
Though yet irrational of soul, to grasp
With tiny finger—to let fall a tear;
And, as the heavy cloud of sleep dissolves,
To stretch his limbs, bemocking, as might seem,
The outward functions of intelligent man.”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“Let us stop being afraid. Of our own thoughts, our own minds. Of madness, our own or others’. Stop being afraid of the mind itself, its astonishing functions and fandangos, its complications and simplifications, the wonderful operation of its machinery—more wonderful because it is not machinery at all or predictable.”
—Kate Millett (b. 1934)
“The English masses are lovable: they are kind, decent, tolerant, practical and not stupid. The tragedy is that there are too many of them, and that they are aimless, having outgrown the servile functions for which they were encouraged to multiply. One day these huge crowds will have to seize power because there will be nothing else for them to do, and yet they neither demand power nor are ready to make use of it; they will learn only to be bored in a new way.”
—Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)