Thyroid Gland Anatomy Physiology Gland Essay

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Anatomy and Physiology of the Thyroid Gland

The thyroid gland is an endocrine gland found in the neck, and it controls how quickly the body uses energy, makes proteins, and controls how sensitive the body is to other hormones that are in play within the context of the body's intricacies. The gland itself is butterfly-shaped and sits on the trachea, in the anterior neck (Ayoub, Christie, Duggon, and Herndon 725). It is comprised of two lobes connected in the middle by an isthmus, and on the inside contains many hollow follicles, whole epithelial cell walls surround a central cavity filled with a thick, gelatinous material called colloid (Anraku, Nakao, Ono, and Yamamura 319). Located just below the area of the body commonly referred to as the "Adams Apple" or larynx, the thyroid actually originates in the back of the tongue when a body is still in utero and makes its way to the front of the neck through further development before birth.

The normal adult thyroid gland weighs an average of 10 to 20 grams, and it receives its nourishment from bilateral superior and inferior thyroid arteries and a small artery called thyroid ima (Fleseriu and Skugor 162). Located within the body's endocrine system, the thyroid acts in conjunction with the endocrine system, working to maintain communication throughout the body. As the endocrine system is essentially the body's main center for communication to all other areas and functions of the body, the thyroid plays a major role in the body's capacity to maintain homeostasis within its entirety as an organism.

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Without the aid of the thyroid and its main functions, other functions within the body would be significantly altered. Additionally, the thyroid acts as a passage through with hormones -- which are the body's main unit for communication -- travel and affect the rest of the body. The basic function of the thyroid gland is to take iodine, found in many foods and convert it into thyroid hormones, which are then released into the blood stream and are transported throughout the body where they control the body's metabolism -- or the conversion of oxygen and calories into energy (Mareib 21). The production of these hormones are absolutely essential to the body's growth, development and maintenance, as every cell in the body depends upon these thyroid hormones for regulation of their metabolism, which directly effects the way in which these specific cells function to maintain the body's health.

The hormones that are secreted by the thyroid are essential to the body, and are found within nearly every cell in the body with only the adult brain, spleen, testes, and uterus being immune to their effects (Steinberg 1). The gland itself secretes two different thyroid hormones, noted as THs within the context of medical recording and research. Thyroxine -- or T4 -- represents an average of 90% of the thyroid hormone production, while triiodothyronine -- or T3 -- comprises the….....

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