Anatomy and Physiology Review Quiz

Hormone-Receptor Actions

• Hormone-receptor actions work in a "lock and key" manner, where only the correct hormone can bind to and activate the receptor site.
• Binding a hormone to its receptor causes the target tissue to change its activity.
• Hormones produce specific responses even though they circulate throughout the body.

Disorders of the Endocrine System

• Disorders of the endocrine system are related to either an excess or a deficiency of a specific hormone or to a defect at its receptor site.
• The onset of these disorders can be either slow and insidious or abrupt and life-threatening.

Control of Cellular Function

• The control of cellular function by any hormone depends on a series of reactions working through negative feedback control mechanisms.
• When a condition starts to move away from the normal range, secretion of the hormone capable of causing the correct response is stimulated until the need or demand is met.
• As the correction occurs, hormone secretion decreases and may halt.

Complex Interactions

• Some hormones have more complex interactions, with a series of reactions in which more than one endocrine gland, as well as the final target tissue, is stimulated.
• The effects of aging on the endocrine system vary but usually result in reduced glandular function and decreased hormone secretion.

Assessment Methods

• Endocrine problems can disturb any health pattern, with the most commonly affected patterns being nutrition, metabolic, activity, elimination, sleep, and sexual and reproductive functions.
• Age and gender of the patient provide baseline assessment data.

Anatomy and Physiology Review

• The endocrine system is made up of glands in many tissues and organs in a variety of body areas.
• A key feature of all endocrine glands is the secretion of hormones.
• Hormones are natural chemicals that exert their effects on specific tissues known as target tissues.
• Target tissues are usually located some distance from the endocrine gland, with no direct physical connection between the endocrine gland and its target tissue.

Patient Assessment

• Assess the patient for a history of endocrine dysfunction and for manifestations that could indicate an endocrine disorder, especially those that have required hospitalization.
• Ask the patient about other family members with endocrine disorders because some endocrine problems have a genetic component.
• Ask the patient what prescribed and over-the-counter drugs were or are taken on a regular basis because some drugs can alter endocrine function.

Laboratory Tests

• Laboratory tests are an essential part of the diagnostic process, including tests of blood, urine, and saliva.
• Underactivity of an endocrine gland may require stimulation to determine whether the gland is capable of normal hormone production.
• Suppression tests are used when hormone levels are high or in the upper range of normal.
• An assay measures the level of a specific hormone in blood or other body fluid.

Imaging Studies

• Anterior, posterior, and lateral skull x-rays may be used to view the sella turcica, the bony pocket in the skull where the pituitary gland rests.
• Magnetic resonance imaging with contrast is the most sensitive method of imaging the pituitary gland, although computed tomography (CT) scans can also evaluate.
• The thyroid, parathyroid glands, ovaries, and testes are evaluated by ultrasound.
• CT scans are also used to evaluate the adrenal glands, ovaries, and pancreas.