The “Fountain of Youth” is actually the human Endocrine System which is a very complex closed-loop system of checks and balances that regulate all the processes of the human body during its entire lifespan, much as a computerized automotive system. As such, feedback is used totally to maintain the delicate balance and interplay between the various components of the human body.
Keeping this Endocrine System in good working order is key to maintaining a youthful body and it is important to consider the whole picture when targeting the body’s health and youthfulness, rather than isolating and treating specific components, because of the interplay between the components and the delicate balance maintained over them. The reason why most drug regimens ultimately fail is because the feedback and equilibrium between targeted components is upset, creating a downward spiral of reactions and more drugs introduced to treat them.
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| Location of the Pituitary Gland |
The control center of the Endocrine System is usually regarded as the Pituitary Gland (commonly referred to as the “Fountain of Youth”) which hangs from the Hypothalamus, a part of the brain located immediately above it, by a thread-like stalk that contains both blood vessels and nerves. The Hypothalamus, which is roughly the size of an almond and is located below the Thalamus, just above the brain stem, is part of the closed-loop system and provides feedback from the controlled body components to the Pituitary Gland, which in turn transmits hormonal instructions in response back to those same components. The Pituitary Gland sits in a small pocket of bone in the base of the skull called the Pituitary Fossa, also known as the Sella Turcica, or Turkish saddle, because of the resemblance. The Sella Turcica is located deep within the skull between the ears and in line with the top of the nose.
While the Hypothalamus controls body temperature, hunger, thirst, fatigue, sleep, and circadian cycles by feedback to the Pituitary Gland; it is the Pituitary Gland that directly controls growth, blood pressure, pregnancy and childbirth, breast milk production, the sex organ functions, Thyroid Gland function, metabolism, water and osmolarity regulation, reabsorption of water by the kidneys, and temperature regulation, which is accomplished by feedback from the Hypothalamus.
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| Seat of the Pituitary Gland |
There are 9 hormones, of which 8 are produced by two lobes of the Pituitary Gland. The ninth hormone Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormone (MSH) is actually produced by the Intermediate Lode — a thin layer of cells separating the Anterior Lobe from the Posterior Lobe — usually attributed to the Anterior Pituitary.
The Anterior Pituitary (Adenohypophysis) produces:
- Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), released under the influence of Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone (TRH) — feedback from the Hypothalamus.
- Growth Hormone (GH) (Somatotropin), released under the influence of Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone (GHRH) (inhibited by Somatostatin) — feedback from the Hypothalamus.
- AdrenoCorticoTropic Hormone (ACTH), released under the influence of Corticotropin Releasing Hormone (CRH) — feedback from the Hypothalamus.
- Luteinizing Hormone (LH) (Lutropin in males) (Interstitial Cell Stimulating Hormone (ICSH), released under influence of Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) — feedback from the Hypothalamus.
- Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), released under influence of Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) — feedback from the Hypothalamus.
- PRoLactin (PRL) (LuteoTropic Hormone (LTH), released under influence of multiple Prolactin Releasing Factors (PRH) — feedback from the Hypothalamus.
- Oxytocin — most of which is released from the Paraventricular Nucleus in the Hypothalamus.
- AntiDiuretic Hormone (ADH) (Vasopressin) and Arginine VasoPressin (AVP) — most of which is released from the Supraoptic Nucleus in the Hypothalamus.
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| Feedback Loop of the Endocrine System |
