The Endocrine System: Exocrine, Endocrine and Heterocrine Glands, the Pituitary, Thyroid and Parathyroid Hormones and Their Disorders

An anatomy and physiology teaching module on the endocrine system as a chemical control system working with the nervous system. It classifies glands as exocrine, endocrine and heterocrine, then takes the pituitary lobe by lobe - the growth hormone and its control, the disorders of excess and deficit, adrenocorticotropic, follicle-stimulating and luteinising hormone, the intermediate lobe and the posterior pituitary with antidiuretic hormone and oxytocin and the diseases of water balance. The thyroid section covers its anatomy, hormones, the regulation of secretion and the disorders that follow, goitre, hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism or Graves' disease, and the parathyroid section takes parathyroid hormone, its function and the bone diseases of rickets, osteomalacia and tetany that come from its imbalance.