Question

What are the hormones? Where are hormones made in the human body?

Answer 1

Hint: Hormones are the informal molecules that serve as chemical co-ordinators or chemical messengers within the body. They are elaborated by specialized endocrine glands. Since endocrine glands are ductless, hormones directly diffuse to blood, and blood carries them to distant places of their action.

Complete answer:
Hormones are special chemical messengers in the body that are created in the endocrine glands. The production centers of hormones are called sources, and their active sites, or the tissues influenced by them, are called target sites or target tissues. Hormones have regulatory effects on specific target tissues, which are located elsewhere within the body. They interact with their target cells via receptors, which are large protein molecules with specific binding sites for specific hormones. There may be 2000-10,000 receptor molecules per every target cell. The synthesis and secretion of a hormone may be controlled by another one through a feed-back mechanism.

Additional Information: -Hormones control and coordinate metabolic activities in an orderly manner, govern reproduction, development, differentiation, growth, and morphogenesis, maintain homeostasis, control behavior, promote adaptations to stress and strain, and respond to changes in the internal environment.
- Almost all metabolic activities are directly or indirectly influenced by them.
- In the course of their circulation through blood or interstitial fluid, hormones encounter receptor molecules, specific for each hormone.

Note: -Receptors reside either on the surface of the target cells or within them. Hormone-receptor interaction initiates a series of biochemical events in the target cell, influencing cellular metabolism.
 -Even though the hormone molecules come in contact with all the tissues in the body, only those cells which contain their specific receptors will be affected by them.
-The target cells are extraordinarily sensitive even to extremely low concentrations of hormone in the blood.