6
Process
How everything works
The endocrine system is made up of certain special glands and the hormones produced by those glands in the body. The hormones are important for instructing specific cells to produce particular actions in response to a stimulus or imbalance in the body. The glands are responsible to recognize the need for hormone secretion.
The hormones travel in the bloodstream to the cells where they act, and bind to the cells to initiate their effects.
These processes are tightly regulated by the endocrine system to maintain metabolic balance in the body. They are essential to keeping body functions normal. Such processes include cellular metabolism, sexual development and reproduction, homeostasis of sugar and other nutrients, and regulation of the heart rate, blood pressure, sleep cycles and digestion.