Endocrine System: Hormones, Glands, and Disorders

Steps of How Amino-Acid-Based Hormones Affect Target Cells

For this assignment please use the text box entry or file upload (you can always copy and paste these questions into a word doc) to submit your answers to the 10 questions below.:

1. Describe the 5 steps of how an amino-acid-based hormone changes the activities of its target cells.

2. Describe the 5 steps of how a steroid based hormone changes the activities of its target cells.

3. Identify the endocrine gland based on this riddle: They say “good things come in small packages” and that is true with me. I am very tiny, but I do a lot of jobs in the endocrine system. I help you grow and develop.

I also provide the milk for a new mother to breast-feed her baby. The back part of me helps maintain your body’s water balance. Finally, when I release my hormone, oxytocin, is will cause the uterus to contract so a new life can be born. Who am I?

4. Identify the hormone based on this riddle: You can thank me for all those muscles you have and that deep voice. I am also the reason you need to shave every day. I play a role in reproduction by allowing you to make sperms. Who am I? 

5. Identify the endocrine gland based on this riddle: There are two of me in your body and I have two parts. I help keep your electrolytes balanced by deciding how much sodium and potassium your body needs.

I also play a role in pain control. I am a good friend of the sympathetic nervous system and I play a role in preparing your body to handle emergencies. Who am I?

Questions 6 -10 Endocrine System Disorders:

The following are case histories on each of five different people.  Your job as a potential doctor is to consider the symptoms of each person and then to state in your medical opinion the name of the disorder, the endocrine gland involved, the hormone and whether a hypo- or hyper- secretion is responsible.

6. Jennifer had always been pretty, even as a child. Now, even though she is 40, she still retained her beauty until last year.  Suddenly, she found that her lower jaw seemed to be growing larger.  Another thing that she noticed was that her wedding band did not fit anymore.

Her hands seemed to be getting bigger!  She could not wear the gloves she had worn last year.  Also, her nose seemed to be taking over her face!  None of her shoes fit her anymore. She used to wear a size 7, now she was up to an 8!  Finally she went to her family doctor.  If you were her doctor, what would you tell her?

7. Ralph has always been different from his classmates. When he was in fourth grade, he still could not add or subtract numbers larger than 10.  He had trouble reading and spelling the simplest words.  His memory was poor. All of the kids constantly teased him and called him names.  

Steps of How Steroid-Based Hormones Affect Target Cells

Finally his parents sent him to a special school.  When he got to seventh grade, he had to take gym. After the class all of the boys had to take a shower.  Once again the teasing and the tormenting started for poor Ralph.  The other boys told him he looked like a baby and that he would never grow up to be a real man!  

When he got home, his mother tried to comfort him. Things just continued to get worse. Ralph kept gaining weight and the nickname “Tubby” was given to him by some cruel classmates.  Still another problem was that Ralph was at least a foot shorter than other boys his age.  What was Ralph’s problem?

8. Jim was a pretty normal individual. He was 26 years old, had just gotten married, and had a good job.  Everything seemed to be going wonderful when he got hit by some strange disorders. He noticed that he could not bend so easily anymore.

In fact, anything that required movement became increasingly painful for him.  And then out of nowhere he began to go into muscle spasms. The doctor thought he might have epilepsy, but it was ruled out.

His convulsions continued and pretty soon he lost his job and his wife divorced him.  What would you have told him about his condition before he lost his job and his wife?

9. Susan was 20 years old. She had a steady boyfriend whom she planned to marry after she was finished with college.  She had just been chosen as homecoming queen and was the president of her sorority.  Susan was on “cloud nine”, nothing could possibly go wrong.  

Then she noticed her throat had grown larger in a certain area, but she decided that it was due to a bad cold that she had just recovered from.  As time went on, however, the swelling continued.  First it was the size of a lemon, then a tomato, and now it looked like she had swallowed a grapefruit.

People began giving her strange looks, and her boyfriend wasn’t too excited about it either.  Then her eyeballs seemed to be coming out of her sockets, and her boyfriend began calling her “bug-eyes”.  What could you have told Susan that would have saved her from all of that embarrassment and heartache?

10. Missy was a very active 16-year old sophomore. She was involved in clubs and organizations both in and out of school.  Whenever possible, she babysat after school to earn some extra money.  Three months ago, she started to feel more tired than usual.  She had to quit some of her activities and stopped babysitting almost entirely.  

During the day, Missy found herself falling asleep in some of her classes and making frequent stops at both the drinking fountain as well as the bathroom. During a urinalysis lab in biology class, her urine tested positive for the presence of glucose.  What is Missy’s problem and how should she deal with it?