Your Endocrine System

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Your Endocrine System

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Your adrenal (say: uh-dree-nul) glands are really important to your body in times of trouble, like when you're sick or under stress. Adrenaline (say: uh-dreh-nuh-lin), one of the adrenal gland hormones, gives you the boost you need if you're being chased by a wild animal — or even your brother!

Insulin Is Essential

Your pancreas (say: pan-kree-us) is your largest endocrine gland and it's found in your belly. The pancreas makes several hormones, including insulin (say: in-suh-lin), which helps glucose (say: gloo-kose), the sugar that's in your blood, enter the cells of your body. Your cells need to be fueled with glucose to function, like a car's engine needs gas. And we all know what happens when you run out of fuel!



Fortunately, special doctors called endocrinologists (say: en-doh-krin-all-oh-jistz) know a lot about the endocrine system and can help treat people with hormone problems. But most kids will never need to worry about their endocrine system because it works fine on its own. How does that make a kid feel? Gland-tastic!

Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: March 2012

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