Show im SECRET a SmilH a continued Dr Roger Guillemin a Nobel Prizewinner and his colleagues have isolated what Dr Guillemin calls “perhaps the most important molecule ever characterized" Called fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) it speeds up the healing of wounds stimulates the growth of new blood vessels after menstruation and helps restore damaged nerves It may be involved in stimulating Wood-vess- el growth to feed new blood to the heart after a V a) Scotty began wearing around his waist a special medicine pump that contained the hormone Every three hours the pump automatically fed a dose of GHRF through a needle in Scotty’s skin In the first three months of treatment Scotty grew three inches Now 12 he alternates by wearing the pump for six months then removing it for six months When Scotty wears the pump he grows two or three inches during the th period When he removes the pump he grows less than an inch during the same six-mon- m M abling Scotty Floyd to grow to normal height The growth hormone inhibiting factor controls the release of growth hormone from die pituitary Called somatostatin it helps to regulate our growth and probably protects us from becoming giants as well as controlling the release of a number of other hormones Several new drugs— somatostatin-lik- e compounds— are effectively treating disorders linked to this hormone The thyrotropin releasing factor lets thyrotropin go to the thyroid It’s like a double play in baseball: The brain triggers the pituitary which in turn triggers the thyroid gland to produce its thyroid hormone The gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) does die same for the sex organs: bain to pituitary to sex glands Doctors give this hormone to women who cannot ovulate In some infertile men the hormone increases sperm production Chemists have developed artificial cousins of GnRH that are even more powerful These substances are being tested against prostate gland cancer Male hormones stimulate die growth of this cancer By giving the hormone steadily and in large doses doctors can shut off the testes’ production of male sex hormone and slow the cancer In women these sex hormones could be used to treat premenstrual tension and a disease called' endometriosis in which tissue from the lining of die womb invades other parts of die pelvis Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) hormone First is a major stress-contrisolated from human tissue in 1981 by Wylie Vale of the Salk Institute CRF may be the key to understanding chronic stress and whether it is of psychological or physical origin CRF triggers the pituitary to secrete cortisol (an adrenal hormone) and also ht stimulates the brain to activate the nervous system to produce adrenaline When mat ferocious dog jumps out at you your bain releases CRF which signals die gland network to speed up your heart release sugar into the blood raise your blood pressure and spur you into a response “In the short run your body response mechanism is good for you" says Vale “You are ready to act But if you are chronically under stress you suppress your immune system your appetite and ol heart attack or to the brain after a stroke Scientists are trying to create FGF by genetic engineering as a possible treatment for heart attack or stroke patients Scientists already have created two kinds of hormone that make children grow —one that normally comes from the pituitary gland at the base of the brain and the other from the brain itself The pituitary chemical called growth hormone (GH) can stimulate growth in children whose pituitary gland cannot naturally make the substance The brain chemical called growth hormone releasing factor (GHRF) stimulates the normal pituitary gland to release growth hormone It was first isolated by Dr Guillemin and his colleagues At age 7 Scotty Floyd of Buena with Vista Vs stood “I'm just barely 5 feet tall and my husband Larry is average height" says Scotty's mother Donna “So we thought Scotty would be short" Scotty's pediatrician sent his young patient for tests by Dr Michael Thomer an endocrinologist at the University of Virginia Medical School in Charlottesville Dr Thomer found a cyst in Scotty’s brain that stopped GHRF from getting to his pituitary eye-to-e- ye amount of time He will continue this treatment until he's 17 “There have been no side effects" says Mrs Floyd “He doesn't even notice the pump Scotty plays sports except contact sports And he grins a lot now that he's growing" The brain— your most powerful gland In the last 20 years scientists have discovered that die brain puts out scores of hormones tocontrd other glands and organs Not all of these speedy messengers are known or named The brain acts as a switchboard between your mental and physical life By releasing hormones to travel to distant organs your brain translates your emotional upsets into physical responses— a rapid heartbeat a stomachache inflamed intestines The brain controls first of all the master gland — the pituitary (see box) Just above the pituitary lies a tangle of nerves known as the hypothalamus The hypothalamus spews out several chemicals that release the major hormones from the pituitary Here's a brief summary of the process: The growth hormone releasing factor triggers growth hormone from the pituitary This is the substance that is en -- fight-or-flig- fight-or-flig- ht your reproductive system Chronic stress also suppresses growth in children" To counteract this suppression Vale and his associates developed the first agent that blocks the action of the hormone— called a CRFblocker— --in the hope that resultant drugs will be able to relieve talents who ovenespond to stress situations Q P The Pituitary-Mast- er Gland NUGGLED UNDER YOUR brain is the pituitary a tiny lump of tissue which squirts out a variety of hormones that control aesi-l- y every major biological system I already have' told you about GH the hormone that stimulates growth Doctors succeeded in isolating that hormone from human cadavers and injected it in children whose pituitary glands could not produce the chemical But tragedy occasionally accompanied this treatment: Some researchers believe dial a virus which causes severe brain damage sometimes "piggybacked" with die human hormone and invaded the patient destroying the child’s ability to think A safe form of the hormone is now made in the laboratory by genetic engineering The pituitary also puts out gonad-otrop- ic hormones chemicals drat head for the ovaries or testes— our gonads or sex glands (Gonad means seed rrppic means turning) In women these hormones control the ova--1 ties' production of eggs menstruation and the release of female sex hormones such as estrogen and progestin In men the gonadotropic hormones stimulate the formation of sperm and the manufacture of male hormones such as testosterone Doctors now use these gonadotropic hormones to stimulate egg production in infertile women They also inject die chemicals to induce eggs from the ovaries for use during in vitro fertilization Thyrotropin stimulates the thyroid to release its hormone there-controlling the body’s energy Too much or too little thyrotropin also may contribute to mental depression In addition the pituitary produces t adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) which switches your adrenal glands on and off In response to ACTH die adrenals (one astride each kidney) create several hormones that increase blood sugar turn off inflammation lower immunity and trigger the production of male sex hormones Perhaps most intriguing of all the a natpituitary makes ural opiumlike substance that reduces pain gives a feeling of pleasure and may help fight depression Clearly trouble in the pituitary gland spells trouble throughout your body in 24 SEPTEMBER 20 1M7 PMMK HUUUZMC |