BIOA02H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Pineal Gland, Melatonin, Insomnia
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BIOA02H3 Full Course Notes
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Document Summary
The endocrine system: the major human endocrine glands and hormones. The diagram below illustrates the major endocrine glands in humans and the hormones that they produce. We are going to look at many of these hormones in more detail during this lecture. One that we will not look at further is melatonin produced by the pineal gland. It requires darkness in order to be produced; even the small amount of light emitted by a phone can be sufficient to prevent melatonin production and therefore hinder sleep. Melatonin supplements can be effective in helping treat insomnia but need to be taken in a certain window before you wish to fall asleep and are most effective when it is dark. Circulating hormones are synthesised within and released from endocrine cells within an endocrine gland. The diffuse through the extracellular fluid, enter the blood and are transported to target tissues.
