Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be going through the physiology of the hypothalamus and pituitary gland.

And you can find written notes on this topic at zero.0.5.com slash hypothalamus and

pituitary or in the endocrinology section of the second edition of the zero to finals medicine

book.

And you can find flashcards and questions to train your knowledge and help you remember

the information for longer at members.0 tofinals.com. So let's jump straight in. Hormones are

messenger chemicals that travel in the blood between the organs and the tissues, regulating many processes.

Too much or too little of a hormone can have significant consequences, so it's important to

keep them tightly regulated. A hormone axis controls the amount of a hormone in the system.

Most hormones in the body are controlled by two structures in the middle part of the brain

called the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland.

The hypothalamus sits above the pituitary gland and releases hormones that stimulate the

pituitary gland. The pituitary gland releases hormones in response. This way the

hypothalamus controls the pituitary. Let's talk about the hormones of the hypothalamus.

The hypothalamus releases thyrotropin releasing hormone, or TRH, which stimulates thyroid-stimulating

hormone secretion by the pituitary. Corticotropin releasing hormone, or CRH, which stimulates

adrenocortocotropic hormone secretion by the pituitary.

Gonadotropin releasing hormone, or GNRH, which stimulates loutonizing hormone and follicle stimulating

hormone secretion by the pituitary.

Growth hormone releasing hormone, or GHRH, which stimulates growth hormone secretion by the

pituitary, somatostatin, which is also called growth hormone inhibiting hormone, or GHIH, which inhibits growth hormone inhibiting hormone, or G-H-I-H, which inhibits growth hormone release by the

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