Question

1. For each of the following situations, briefly discuss what would happen (physically and physiologically speaking) and why, relating this back to the hormone(s) and gland(s) responsible.

What happens if you …

1. Drink too much alcohol at one time?

2. Come face to face with a very angry bear?

3. Don’t get enough iodine in your diet?

Answer 1

When alcohol is consumed too much, our blood pressure may increase, heartbeat may rise or become irregular, long term effect is trouble in pumping blood through the body, blood clots and even stroke,heart attack. Excessive alcohol use can also lead to anemia. Alcohol consumption also disturbs our usual body functions like breathing, thought, speech, movement ,memory etc. Mental effects may include mood changes, , relaxation, impaired judgment , slowed reaction , difficulty remembering, loss of consciousness and confusion. Hormonal effects of alcohol consumption includes significantly increased FSH, LH, and estrogen levels. Testosterone and progesterone may get significantly decreased. Irreversible damage to the pancreas may occur due to prolonged binge drinking ,and sometimes acute pancreatitis.

When we come face to face with an angry bear certain bodily changes occur that prepare us to become more efficient in a situation of danger: Our brain becomes hyper alert, our pupils may get dilate, the bronchi also dilate and our breathing accelerates, heart rate and blood pressure also rise. Our bood flow and stream of glucose to our skeletal muscles increase so that we can run faster. And once we sense a potential danger, our body releases hormones which slow or shut down the functions which are not needed for survival like our digestive system. That is why when we are stressed our digestion slows down. Our certain functions get sharpened like our eyesight . The sympathetic nervous system sends out impulses to glands and smooth muscles and this tells the adrenal medulla to release hormones like epinephrine also called adrenaline and norepinephrine also called noradrenaline into our bloodstream. These "stress hormones" cause several changes in the body, including an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.

When we do not get enough iodine in our diet, certain symptoms start to arise in our body, they include swelling in the neck also called goitre, if a woman is pregnant there might be a number of issues, there may be weight gain and also difficulties in learning. The symptoms are very similar to hypothyroidism, or low thyroid hormones as prolonged lack of iodine may lead to these diseases. Other symptoms include fatigue and weakness,hair loss, flaky skin, feeling cold all the time, heart rate changes. Iodine deficiency means your body can't make enough of thyroid hormones,since iodine is used to make themleading to hypothyroidism these also adversely affect the muscle, heart, liver, kidney and the developing brain. Deficiency symptoms arising due to iodine deficiency are collectively called Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD).