Know about Glands before reading further

We have different organs functioning in our body. All these need to be coordinated to function in unity. Therefore the need arises for a control system.

The first system of control is through hormones. The hormones are chemical substances which circulate through the blood and regulate the activity of the organs.

The hormones, i.e. the chemical substances are produced in various glands such as the pituitary gland, thyroid gland, adrenals, ovaries, testes, pancreas, etc.

It is our mind, which decides what we want to do. This thinking has to be translated into action. The first servant of our mind is our Glands, which facilitates execution of the decision so taken by our minds. It is just like a motor vehicle. A motor vehicle simply executes the orders of the driver. Thus if our minds think positively, our glands would work positively and if our mind thinks negatively, the glands too would work negatively. Thus our glands take the effect of our thinking.

Well, it is generally believed that only our nervous system is in charge of acting as the messenger of our thoughts to our body parts. It is true. But the glandular effects of our thinking is of more magnitude and impor­tance.

The glands produce a number of hormones useful for a variety of jobs, such as maintenance of blood pressure, muscles, kidneys, etc. and helping each system of our body to do their jobs. All these glands put together produce all the chemicals absolutely essential for our body to function. Thus all of us are the proud owners of a few chemical plants each. From these plants, we can either produce chemicals needed for health or even for our ill health. They could thus be used either as our defence plants or as a self destruction plants.

The Pituitary gland

Of all our glands, our pituitary gland is of vital impor­tance which is located just below our brain. This gland is the master regulator of our entire body. It produces an amazing variety of hormones.

· One of these hormones has everything to do with blood pressure.
· Another with muscles
· The third works with kidneys to either produce or inhibit urine, and
· The others have to do with other glands of the body helping them to do their jobs.

All these glands put together produce all the substances required for your maintenance and functioning .

Thus the pituitary is like the key industry working night and day making the needed chemicals that are absolutely essential to the well being of your body. If the pituitary malfunctions, your body rhythm would get affected.

To understand pituitary a little more. you need also to know that it is the key defence plant, if our body is threatened in any way. This pitutiary produces and sends out that commodity which is necessary to mobilize our defences against any threat. Thus the pituitary is not only the master regulator of our body, but also adapts our body to meet any threatening condition.

There are many threats to our body. Bacterial invasion, virus infection, exposure to heat/cold/excessive moisture/dry­ness, muscular exertion, drug effects, operations, injuries, unpleasant emotions, etc come up as threats to our body from time to time which affect our body balance. In response to these, the pituitary puts out the needed hormones that mobilizes the body defences.

Researchers have found that among the many threats to our body balance, our unpleasant emotions can stimulate any or all the hormones.

For example, when we go to take up a crucial examination unprepared, we get tense, anxious and apprehensive and at that time our body suddenly realizes we must go to the toilet for urination. What really happens is that iuretic hormone makes the kidneys excrete an increased amount of urine. This makes it clear that emotions and hormones are linked.

Somototraphic hormone [STH for short] is one of the most important hormones made by the pituitary. If there is an infec­tion, the pituitary mobilizes the STH as the body's defences against any kind of infection. If it were not for the STH, we would die out of the first cold. This STH while producing the defences for our body, also produces the feelings of being sick. Making us sick at those times is very beneficial to us because, by making us feel sick, the system gives us a message that we should not exert much at that time and take rest so that the internal war can go on against the bacterial Thus the symptoms of being sick are a beneficial reaction from the STH and the pituitary, as it warns us of bacterial invasion and asks us to be careful while they fight against the bacteria is on by the STH.

When you have the attack of cold and are feeling sick, you approach the doctor and he gives you some medicines. The doctors bring your high fever down through injections and you find your pains gone, tiredness gone. But all that has happend is your STH effect has been cancelled out for you to feel easy and the infection is left unopposed by STH. . Thus these medicines counteract the effects of STH including its defensive actions against the infection. In such a case you get out of the feeling of being sick, but withdraw your defence against the invading bacteria. The defence having gone, the infec­tion in your body survives.

Our pituitary not only produces STH when we are affected by bacteria and virus. The STH also gets released by our negative and unpleasant emotions. It is this, which causes a feeling of our being sick when we are morbidly depressed. When we say 'I am sick of this place', we only convey that we have unpleasant emotions at this place and that feeling of being sick is due to the release of STH due to our unpleasant emotions.

Let us say, a patient suffers from asthma or arthritis. What really happens is that the person starts feeling sick of some relationship or situation in the family and suddenly the pituitary starts producing the STH. Then the person starts feeling uneasy and becomes a patient.

Thus if your mind is in control your glands would control your health by producing the required chemicals. So let us work towards thinking well and keeping our glands in positive state of production.