Over the course of our lifetimes, our bodies undergo a series of extraordinary metamorphoses: we grow, experience puberty, and many of us reproduce. Behind the scenes, the endocrine system works constantly to orchestrate these changes. Alongside growth and sexual maturity, this system regulates everything from your sleep to the rhythm of your beating heart, exerting its influence over each and every one of your cells.
在我們有生之年, 身體經歷了一系列非凡的變化: 我們成長、 體驗青春期, 很多人會生育。 在幕後, 內分泌系統不斷努力協調這些變化。 除了成長和性徵成熟, 這個系統還規範一切事情, 從睡眠到規律節奏的心跳, 對每一個細胞施加影響。
The endocrine system relies on interactions between three features to do its job: glands, hormones, and trillions of cell receptors. Firstly, there are several hormone-producing glands: three in your brain, and seven in the rest of your body. Each is surrounded by a network of blood vessels, from which they extract ingredients to manufacture dozens of hormones. Those hormones are then pumped out in tiny amounts, usually into the bloodstream.
內分泌系統依賴 三個屬性之間的相互作用: 腺體、 激素、 和數萬億的細胞受體。 首先,有幾種產生激素的腺體: 三個在你的大腦中, 七個在你身體的其餘部分。 每個都被血管網包圍, 它們從血管中提取成分 來製造出幾十種激素。 然後那些激素被抽出很少量, 通常是進入血液。
From there, each hormone needs to locate a set of target cells in order to bring about a specific change. To find its targets, it’s helped along by receptors, which are special proteins inside or on the cell’s surface. Those receptors recognise specific hormones as they waft by, and bind to them. When this happens, that hormone-receptor combination triggers a range of effects that either increase or decrease specific processes inside the cell to change the way that cell behaves.
每種激素需要定位於一組目標細胞, 為之帶來特定的具體變化。 受到受體的幫助,它們找到了目標, 受體是細胞表面 或內部的特殊蛋白質。 受體會識別飄過的特定激素, 並鎖定它們。 當這個情況發生時, 激素受體的組合 會引發一系列的變化, 增加或減少細胞內的特定進程, 改變細胞的行為。
By exposing millions of cells at a time to hormones in carefully-regulated quantities, the endocrine system drives large-scale changes across the body.
每一次有數百萬個細胞, 透過精心調節數量的激素, 送到內分泌系統 驅動大規模的身體變化。
Take, for instance, the thyroid and the two hormones it produces, triiodothyronine and thyroxine. These hormones travel to most of the body’s cells, where they influence how quickly those cells use energy and how rapidly they work. In turn, that regulates everything from breathing rate to heartbeat, body temperature, and digestion.
以甲狀腺及其產生的兩種激素為例, 三碘甲狀腺原氨酸和甲狀腺素。 它們傳播到身體的大部分細胞, 影響這些細胞使用能量的速度 以及它們的工作速度。 因此,這整個過程能調節呼吸速率、 心跳、 體溫 和消化。
Hormones also have some of their most visible—and familiar—effects during puberty. In men, puberty begins when the testes start secreting testosterone. That triggers the gradual development of the sexual organs, makes facial hair sprout, and causes the voice to deepen and height to increase. In women, estrogen secreted from the ovaries signals the start of adulthood. It helps the body develop, makes the hips widen, and thickens the womb’s lining, preparing the body for menstruation or pregnancy.
在青春期,激素也有些 最明顯和熟悉的效果。 當男性睾丸開始分泌睾酮時, 青春期就開始了。 這觸發了性器官的逐漸發展, 使面部長毛, 使聲音變低 和身高增長。 女性的卵巢分泌的雌激素 標誌著成年期的開始。 它有助於身體發育, 使臀部變寬, 子宮內壁變厚, 準備月經或懷孕的身體。 對內分泌系統的持久誤解
An enduring misconception around the endocrine system is that there are exclusively male and female hormones. In fact, men and women have estrogen and testosterone, just in different amounts. Both hormones play a role in pregnancy, as well, alongside more than 10 other hormones that ensure the growth of the fetus, enable birth, and help the mother feed her child.
以為男性和女性激素 為男女各自獨有。 事實上,男性和女性 同時都有雌激素和睾酮, 只是量的多少不同。 兩種激素都在妊娠中起作用, 同時另有超過十種激素 確保胎兒的生長、 分娩, 和幫助母親哺乳。 這種激素變化的時期, 也與情緒的波動有關。
Such periods of hormonal change are also associated with fluctuations in mood. That’s because hormones can influence the production of certain chemicals in the brain, like serotonin. When chemical levels shift, they may cause changes in mood, as well. But that’s not to say that hormones have unlimited power over us.
那是因為激素可以影響 大腦中某些化學物質 如血清素的產生。 當化學物質的水平變化時, 也可能引起情緒的變化。 但這並不是說 激素對我們有無限的影響力。 它們經常被視為是 我們行為的主要驅動因素,
They’re frequently viewed as the main drivers of our behavior, making us slaves to their effects, especially during puberty. But research shows that our behavior is collectively shaped by a variety of influences, including the brain and its neurotransmitters, our hormones, and various social factors. The primary function of the endocrine system is to regulate our bodily processes, not control us.
讓我們成為其影響的奴隸, 特別是在青春期。 但研究表明, 我們的行為是集體塑造的, 受著各種的影響, 包括大腦及其神經遞質、 我們的激素 和各種社會因素。 內分泌系統的主要功能 是為了調節我們身體的過程, 而不是控制我們。 有時疾病、
Sometimes disease, stress, and even diet can disrupt that regulatory function, however, altering the quantity of hormones that glands secrete or changing the way that cells respond.
壓力, 甚至飲食,也會破壞這種調節功能, 改變腺體分泌激素的量 或改變細胞反應的方式。 糖尿病是最常見的激素紊亂症之一,
Diabetes is one of the most common hormonal disorders, occurring when the pancreas secretes too little insulin, a hormone that manages blood sugar levels. And hypo- and hyperthyroidism occur when the thyroid gland makes too little or too much thyroid hormone. When there’s too little thyroid hormone, that results in a slowed heart rate, fatigue, and depression, and when there’s too much thyroid hormone, weight loss, sleeplessness, and irritability.
發生在胰臟分泌的胰島素過少時; 胰島素是一種管理血糖水平的激素。 甲狀腺機能的減退或亢進 是當甲狀腺產生過少或過多的 甲狀腺激素時產生。 甲狀腺激素過少會導致心率減慢、 疲勞 和抑鬱; 甲狀腺激素過多時會導致 體重下降、 失眠 和煩躁。 但大多數時候,
But most of the time, the endocrine system manages to keep our bodies in a state of balance. And through its constant regulation, it drives the changes that ultimately help us become who we are.
內分泌系統設法 使我們的身體處於平衡狀態。 通過不斷的調節, 最終使我們變成現在的自己。