What do the words on this site mean?
A hormone is a chemical messenger made by a gland and carried by the blood to cells that can read it. Here are the other words that come up on the site, explained in one or two sentences.
Hormones
- Adrenaline
- The alarm hormone, released within seconds by the core of the adrenal glands. See the adrenal glands.
- Aldosterone
- Adrenal hormone that makes the kidneys hold on to salt and water.
- Cortisol
- Adrenal hormone, high in the morning, that pulls sugar from the stores and calms inflammation. See a 24-hour day.
- Glucagon
- Pancreas hormone that tells the liver to release sugar when it runs short.
- Insulin
- Pancreas hormone that lets sugar into the cells. See the pancreas live.
- Melatonin
- The night hormone, made in the dark, which signals sleep time to the body.
- Estradiol
- The main estrogen, made mostly by the ovaries; it also protects the bones.
The body
- Chylomicron
- Large ball of fat packed by the gut, which goes through the lymph before the blood. See the path of fats.
- Ketone bodies (ketones)
- Fuel made by the liver from fats when sugar runs short, during a fast for example.
- Lymph
- Fluid collected between the cells and returned to the blood by vessels with valves. See lymph in motion.
- Osteoblast, osteoclast
- The two workers of bone: the osteoclast digs, the osteoblast fills in. See bones through life.
- Synapse
- Contact point where one neuron passes a chemical message to the next. See a synapse in motion.
- Ureter
- Thin tube that carries urine from the kidney to the bladder. See kidney stones.
- Portal vein
- Vein that runs straight from the gut to the liver.
Measurements
- UV index
- Strength of the sun's UV rays, from 0 to over 11. See vitamin D and sunlight.
- Level of evidence
- What lets us say a result is solid. See our method.
- T-score
- The density of your bones compared with that of a young adult, measured by bone densitometry.