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These messengers are not as fast as nerve impulses,
but they are fast enough. Think of the amount of time it takes your
heart rate to increase when something scary startles you. Because
of the potency of hormones, if a certain hormone remains in the
blood for too long or too much of it is produced, the consequences
could be disastrous. The hormones are kept in balance by many systems
of feedback. When an organ stimulates the production of a hormone,
this hormone is released into the blood stream to cause the desired
effect. The hormone eventually reaches the organ that produced the
stimulus, which caused the hormone to be produced in the first place.
The organ detects the hormone in the blood and as a result stops
stimulating the production of the hormone. This way the hormones
are kept in check and thus the body is kept in balance. Hormone
production is stimulated by other hormones from other endocrine
glands, or by the hypothalamus, a portion of the brain that detects
hormones in the blood and receives nerve impulses from the brain.
Anabolic Steroids
Your body is extremely sensitive to hormones. It has developed a
complex system of feedback to control the levels of each and every
hormone in the body. This keeps the body in a balanced state, and
only allows the hormone to be used for a limited period of time.
When you introduce anabolic steroids, you're introducing a hormone
the body is not prepared for. The body has no way of turning off
the stimulus for the production of anabolic steroids, because the
user keeps injecting them into his/her body. The body thus has no
protection against the harmful side effects caused by anabolic steroids.
An entertaining analogy: Your hormones are similar
to politicians. They have a term limit. They can help produce dramatic
changes throughout the land that is your body. But their power is
always limited by feedback from other organs, as the power of politicians
is limited by feedback from different branches of government and
by the law under which they operate. Taking anabolic steroids is
like introducing a politician with an extremist personal agenda,
no concern for others, complete immunity to the law and the powers
of superman. The drug, like a crooked indestructible politician,
causes dramatic events throughout the land that is your body, and
your body has no way of controlling it. Although the analogy is
ridiculous, the result can be devastating... (see
Anabolic Steroids under
Drugs)
The liver is the only internal organ that will
completely regenerate itself if partly damaged. Up to 25% can be
removed and within a short period of time it will grow back to its
original size and shape. That is, as long as the remaining tissue
is healthy.
Your
Glands
Pituitary gland
Thyroid gland
Parathyroid glands
Liver
Adrenal glands
Pancreas
Testes
Ovaries
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