Melatonin And The Pineal Gland :: essays research papers fc

Melatonin And The Pineal GlandSet deep in our brains is a bantam gland called the pineal gland. This tinygland is in charge of the endocrine system, the glandular system that controlsmost of our bodily functions. The pineal runs our consistence clocks, and itproduces melatonin the hormone that whitethorn produce to be the biggest medicaldisco really since penicilin, and the key to controlling the aging process. Thepineal gland controls such functions as our sleeping cycle and the change ofbody temperature that we change with the changing seasons. It tells animalswhen to migrate north and south, and when to grow or shed heavy coats. Byslowing down and speeding up their metabolisms, it tells them when to fatten upfor hibernation, and when to enkindle up from hibernation in the spring.Melatonin is the hormone that controls non only when we feel sleepy, butthe rate at which we age, when we go through puberty, and how well our immunesystems tolerate despatch diseases. Being set i n the middle of our brains, the pinealgland has no direct access to sunniness. Our eyes send it a message of how oftsunlight they see, and when its dark. The sunlight prohibits the gland fromproducing melatonin, so at wickedness, when theres no sun, the sleep-inducinghormone is released into our bodies. Because of the pineal gland and melatonin,humans have know to sleep at night and slipstream during the day since long beforethe age of alarm clocks.Humans dont produce melatotin right from birth it is transfered in uteroto babies through the placenta. For their first few days of life, babies understoodhave to receive it from breast milk. Our levels of melatonin peak duringchildhood, then slump at the beginning of puberty, so that other hormones cantake control of our bodies. As we take off older, the amount of melatonin we producecontinues to decrease until at age 60, we produce about half as much as we didat age 20. With the rapid decrease from about age 50 on, the effects o f old agequickly become more visible and physically evident. With what scientists haverecently discovered, we may very soon be able to harness melatonin to slow downaging, fend off disease, and keep us feeling generally healthy and nimblenot to mention the things melatonin can do for us right now like curing insomniaand regulating sleeping patterns, eliminating the effects of jet-lag, andrelieving every day stress.Melatonin is known as the "regulator of regulators", because it sends outMelatonin And The Pineal Gland essays research papers fc Melatonin And The Pineal GlandSet deep in our brains is a tiny gland called the pineal gland. This tinygland is in charge of the endocrine system, the glandular system that controlsmost of our bodily functions. The pineal runs our body clocks, and itproduces melatonin the hormone that may prove to be the biggest medicaldiscovery since penicilin, and the key to controlling the aging process. Thepineal gland controls such functions a s our sleeping cycle and the change ofbody temperature that we undergo with the changing seasons. It tells animalswhen to migrate north and south, and when to grow or shed heavy coats. Byslowing down and speeding up their metabolisms, it tells them when to fatten upfor hibernation, and when to wake up from hibernation in the spring.Melatonin is the hormone that controls not only when we feel sleepy, butthe rate at which we age, when we go through puberty, and how well our immunesystems fend off diseases. Being set in the middle of our brains, the pinealgland has no direct access to sunlight. Our eyes send it a message of how muchsunlight they see, and when its dark. The sunlight prohibits the gland fromproducing melatonin, so at night, when theres no sun, the sleep-inducinghormone is released into our bodies. Because of the pineal gland and melatonin,humans have known to sleep at night and wake during the day since long beforethe age of alarm clocks.Humans dont produce melatotin rig ht from birth it is transfered in uteroto babies through the placenta. For their first few days of life, babies stillhave to receive it from breast milk. Our levels of melatonin peak duringchildhood, then decrease at the beginning of puberty, so that other hormones cantake control of our bodies. As we get older, the amount of melatonin we producecontinues to decrease until at age 60, we produce about half as much as we didat age 20. With the rapid decrease from about age 50 on, the effects of old agequickly become more visible and physically evident. With what scientists haverecently discovered, we may very soon be able to harness melatonin to slow downaging, fend off disease, and keep us feeling generally healthy and energeticnot to mention the things melatonin can do for us right now like curing insomniaand regulating sleeping patterns, eliminating the effects of jet-lag, andrelieving every day stress.Melatonin is known as the "regulator of regulators", because it sends ou t