Part of “CHAPTER 1 – ENDOCRINOLOGY AND THE ENDOCRINE PATIENT“

The complexity of the endocrine system presents a profound intellectual challenge. The macrosystem of endocrine glands secretes its hormones under the influence of other gland-based releasing factors or neural influences or both. The very act of secretion alters subsequent secretion by means of feedback controls (see Chap. 5). Superimposed on this already complex
arrangement, the microsystem of dispersed, somewhat independent, but overlapping units throughout the body, as well as the continuous modulation of the receptors for the secreted hormones, allow general or focal actions that are coordinated with other body functions, tempered to the occasion, and appropriate to the needs of the individual. That such a complex system may go awry and that a dysfunction may have a considerable impact on the patient is not surprising.