Hormone

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Hormones (from Greek ὁρμή - "impetus") are chemicals released by cells that affect cells in other parts of the body. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. It is essentially a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one cell to another. All multicellular organisms produce hormones; plant hormones are also called phytohormones. Hormones in animals are often transported in the blood. Cells respond to a hormone when they express a specific receptor for that hormone. The hormone binds to the receptor protein, resulting in the activation of a signal transduction mechanism that ultimately leads to cell type-specific responses.

Endocrine hormone molecules are secreted (released) directly into the bloodstream, while exocrine hormones (or ectohormones) are secreted directly into a duct, and from the duct they either flow into the bloodstream or they flow from cell to cell by diffusion in a process known as paracrine signalling.

For more information about Hormone, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with hormone

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'Comfort food' a stress killer: Australian study

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A high-fat, high-sugar diet could have the same effect on brain chemistry as mood-altering drugs, giving scientific support to the craving for "comfort food", Australian researchers said Tuesday.


Pre-eclampsia linked to thyroid problems

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Women who develop pre-eclampsia during pregnancy are more likely than other women to have reduced thyroid function (hypothyroidism), finds a study published in BMJ today. It may also put women at a greater risk of thyroi ...


African-American men at higher risk of false positives in prostate testing

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- While an elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test can be frightening news for men, new research shows that sometimes the levels are caused by a naturally occurring hormone, and may not indicate a need ...


Heart and bone damage from low vitamin D tied to declines in sex hormones

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 15, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers at Johns Hopkins are reporting what is believed to be the first conclusive evidence in men that the long-term ill effects of vitamin D deficiency are amplified by lower levels of the key sex hormone estrogen, ...


Coffee break: Compound brewing new research in colon, breast cancer

Coffee break: Compound brewing new research in colon, breast cancer (w/ Podcast)

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A compound in coffee has been found to be estrogenic in studies by Texas AgriLife Research scientists.


The narrow line between love and jealousy

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

A new study carried out at the University of Haifa has found that the hormone oxytocin, the "love hormone", which affects behaviors such as trust, empathy and generosity, also affects opposite behaviors, such as jealousy ...


Drought resistance explained

Drought resistance explained

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Much as adrenaline coursing through our veins drives our body's reactions to stress, the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) is behind plants' responses to stressful situations such as drought, but how it does ...


Scientists uncover new key to the puzzle of hormone therapy and breast cancer

Scientists uncover new key to the puzzle of hormone therapy and breast cancer

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

The use of postmenopausal hormone therapy has decreased over time in the United States, which researchers suggest may play a key role in the declining rate of atypical ductal hyperplasia, a known risk factor ...


New finding suggests prostate biopsy is not always necessary

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 06, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered that some elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in men may be caused by a hormone normally occurring ...


Newly revised guidelines for managing thyroid cancer published in Thyroid journal

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The American Thyroid Association has released new, revised Management Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer. The new guidelines are published in Thyroid, a peer-reviewed journa ...


Cause of common chronic diarrhea revealed in new research

Cause of common chronic diarrhea revealed in new research

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A common type of chronic diarrhoea may be caused by a hormone deficiency, according to new research published in the November issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. The author ...


Short-term hormone therapy and intermediate dose radiation increases survivial for early stage prostate cancer

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Short-term hormone therapy given prior to and during intermediate dose radiation treatment for men with early stage prostate cancer increases their chance of living longer, compared to those who receive the same radiation ...


Placental precursor stem cells require testosterone-free environment to survive

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Trophoblast stem cells (TSCs), cells found in the layer of peripheral embryonic stem cells from which the placenta is formed, are thought to exhibit "immune privilege" that aids cell survivability and is potentially beneficial ...


Study uncovers key to how 'triggering event' in cancer occurs

Study uncovers key to how 'triggering event' in cancer occurs

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered what leads to two genes fusing together, a phenomenon that has been shown to cause prostate cancer to develop.


Teriparatide outperforms alendronate in treating steroid-induced osteoporosis

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A recent study determined glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (OP) is now treatable with Teriparatide, a synthetic form of the human parathyroid hormone. Researchers found patients with glucocorticoid-induced OP who were ...