What is endocrinology?
In internal medicine, a distinction can be made between various specialties, which are also referred to as sub-specialties. One of these is endocrinology and diabetology, which primarily deals with hormones and metabolism.
What are hormones?
For eachCommunication structures are necessary for all forms of coexistence, including in all organisms. In all animal organisms, there is a LAN network – comparable to the latest communication technology – the nervous system, in which There are hard-wired connections and a WLAN network – the hormone system – which usually sends out its information packets – the hormones – via the blood. Each individual cell has special docking sites – the hormone receptors – which ultimately determine which cells receive which information.
In the meantime, word has gotten around that merely sending commands from a control center cannot keep a structure alive. Our organism has known this for a long time. The finest feedback systems, control mechanisms, some of which we already know today, ensure the fantastic interaction of the various organs! See illustration.
The breakdown of testosterone takes place in fatty tissue, among other places, where it is broken down into the female hormone oestradiol. As oestradiol also reduces the production of LH in the pituitary gland, it is easy to explain why the testosterone concentration in the blood decreases with the increase in adipose tissue and therefore the basal metabolic rate also decreases. The result is a further increase in adipose tissue; probably a vicious rather than a control loop!
Without hormones, complex processes such as growth, development, reproduction, coping with stress and disease and adapting to changing environmental conditions would not be possible! We are increasingly recognizing the importance of communication with our direct cell neighbors, the paracrine system. In addition, the organization of metabolic processes within a cell also requires messenger substances and receptors, the autocrine hormone system.
Endocrinology: an exciting branch of internal medicine!
In Germany in particular, endocrinology deals almost exclusively with the hormone-producing glands (pituitary gland, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, adrenal cortex, adrenal medulla, ovaries and testicles). The alpha and beta cells of the pancreas, which also have exocrine functions, have managed with difficulty to be included in endocrinology!
The whole range of tissue hormones of the intestines, kidneys, heart, brain, fatty tissue, muscles and immune system – to name just the most important ones – are not even mentioned in the training guidelines for endocrinologists. In my view, the participation of endocrinologists in research into these hormones and regulatory circuits would only have advantages!
Sport and hormones
Sport and exercise are key factors that significantly reduce the incidence of many diseases. During sport, a multiplication of the metabolism is typical. The extent of the metabolic increase is expressed in MET (metabolic equivalent), where 1 MET corresponds to the basal metabolic rate.
In order for this to work at all, so that sufficient fuel can be made available, the working muscle cells increase the formation of lactate and many different myokines (muscle hormones), which, in addition to intracellular effects (i.e. autocrine) and influencing other muscle fibers (paracrine), also represent a link between the energy requirement and the logistics of energy supply from other organs (i.e. endocrine).
The connection between the release of various myokines and the reduction of disease incidence through exercise is extremely exciting, but is still in its infancy.