The sting of the volleyball smacking against your wrist as you serve it, flowers the pain of a “jammed” finger that got bent backwards, the warmth of the evening bonfire, the taste of the brats and cake, the sound of people cheering, the smell of roses in the garden and sweaty people, the sight of birds in the woods and the volleyball whizzing over the net, the joy of victory or disappointment of defeat after a game well-played, the feeling of attraction when that special someone walks past and smiles. . .

Nervous System and Special Senses, Endocrine System

A network of nerve cells is needed for living.
A tender, sweet touch or a ticklish toe teasing,
The sight of a seagull on silver wings soaring,
The pitch of a pachyderm piper loud-pealing,
Delectable lollipops, lips long are licking,
Or odor of odious ointment out oozing
Is changed into charges through channel-nerves flowing
To brain braids and bridges for branching and brooding.
They flow to make flaccid flesh flex as if fleeing.
Our green-envy grimaces, grins, growls, and grieving
Are made in our minds and then mailed to our moving
While volleyball victors and victims are vying.

senses Our nervous and endocrine systems are our body’s control centers, and work very closely together with each other. Our sense organs receive stimuli and convert those to electrical impulses. Those electrical messages travel via the nervous system to a person’s brain, where the messages are processed and other appropriate electrical messages are sent out. Some of those might be sent to certain muscles to tell them to contract, while others might be sent to specific endocrine glands telling them to secrete some of their particular hormone.

Amanita muscari In the middle of a volleyball game, little Jenny came running to her mother and exclaimed, “Mommy! Mommy! Come see the mushrooms we found. They look just like the mushrooms on the Smurfs!”
“Hmmm. . . mushrooms? Maybe I better go see what these kids are into,” thought Claudia, as she grabbed a mushroom field guide.
What her daughter showed her were mushrooms with red tops sprinkled with white flecks, and they looked just like all the mushrooms pictured in Jenny’s fairy-tale books. Looking them up in the field guide, Claudia discovered they’re called Amanita muscari or Fly Agaric. The field guide had some other, interesting things to say about some of the chemicals in these mushrooms.

pink elephants Certain chemicals in Amanita mushrooms along with alcohol, LSD, nicotine, sugar, nutmeg, novocaine, asprin, and a number of other chemicals have the ability to alter the functioning of the nervous system. Sometimes, such as when a person takes asprin to relieve a pain or when a dentist uses novocaine to numb a person’s mouth before drilling a tooth, that’s a “good” thing. Other times, such as when a person consumes too much alcohol or takes hallucinogenic drugs, that’s a “bad” thing. For example, it is well known that alcohol slows a person’s visual reaction time (the time it takes to see something happening, and for the brain to process that information and send “instructions” to the appropriate muscles.

Our endocrine glands make and secrete hormones which are chemical messengers used within a person’s body. Each type of hormone is secreted by a specific gland in reaction to a specific stimulus. Each hormone has a specific target organ to which it is carried by the blood. Once there (if all is working correctly), special receptor sites on the cells of the target organ receive the chemical messages and relay those messages to other organelles within those cells, causing a particular chemical reaction to occur. For example, in response to an elevated blood sugar level, special cells within the pancreas secrete insulin into the bloodstream. That insulin travels to the liver, and if the receptor sites on the liver cells are working correctly, the liver gets the message to take sugar out of the blood stream and put it into storage within the liver.

normal Occasionally, an endocrine gland may secrete too much or not enough of its hormone, or perhaps the receptor sites on the target organ may not be functioning properly. In any of those cases, the result is an imbalance in the body. For example, if the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin (frequently due to lack of the proper genetic code that tells how to do that), there’s not enough getting to the liver, the liver doesn’t take sugar out of the blood and store it, and the blood sugar level remains too high, resulting in what we refer to as “type I” diabetes. If the pancreas is working just fine and producing an appropriate amount of insulin, but the receptor sites on the liver cells have quit working and can’t get the message (like if someone is trying to call you on your cell phone, but you can’t remember where you put it), the liver still won’t know to take sugar out of the blood and store it, and the blood sugar level will still remain too high, resulting in what we refer to as “type II” diabetes. On the other hand, if the pancreas overreacts to the blood sugar level and secretes too much insulin, the liver will get too strong of a message, and thus will take too much sugar out of the blood and store it, with the result that the blood sugar level will drop too low — what we refer to as hypoglycemia.

Interestingly, by the way, while a person with diabetes is advised to eat low-sugar meals because (s)he does not produce enough insulin to handle more, a person with hypoglycemia should also be advised to eat a low-sugar diet. The reason a hypoglycemic should eat a low-sugar diet is so that a big surge of incoming sugar doesn’t trigger the pancreas to overproduce insulin (which would, in turn, drive the blood sugar level too low). The term “hypoglycemia” (which means “low blood sugar”) really is a misnomer, and the condition should really, more-correctly, be called “hyperinsulinism” (which means “too much insulin”). If a hypoglycemic consumes candy, soft drinks, etc. in an attempt to raise his/her blood sugar level, that will cause an initial surge in the blood sugar level that will last about 15 to 30 min, until the pancreas “gets the message”, and then it will begin producing too much insulin and the person’s blood sugar level will quickly drop too low.

diabetes If you have one of these conditions, you need to read, research, and understand what’s happening in your body. Doctors are human, too, they don’t know everything, and from what I’ve been told, most medical schools require little or no coursework in nutrition. I know of a woman who had both type II diabetes and high blood pressure and who was on diuretics to help with her blood pressure. Since many diuretics cause too much potassium to be removed from a person’s body, and since her doctor had heard that bananas contain a lot of potassium, he advised her to eat six bananas a day. She knew enough about the diabetic diet she needed to follow to realize that six bananas a day would be way too much sugar(!) and that there were other, safer ways of getting the potassium she needed.

hypoglycemia Similarly, I’ve met a number of people who have told me their doctors told them to eat candy bars to deal with their hypoglycemia, and who, after trying that, realized it didn’t help, but didn’t understand why not or what they could/should be doing, instead (frequent, small, high-protein, high-fiber “meals” with minimal simple carbohydrates). As a related example, I also knew a woman who had type I (juvenile) diabetes, and because she very carefully watched her diet was (at that time) in her mid- to late-30s and very healthy. She also happened to be dating a doctor. She told me the story that, on one occasion while they were on a date, she hadn’t eaten in a while or hadn’t eaten enough for the amount of insulin she had taken, and she could tell her blood sugar level was dropping and that she needed sugar, fast. She told him she needed a soft drink, and he proceeded to tell her that was bad for her, etc., etc. She kept insisting, and he finally pulled out his “black bag” and tested her blood sugar level, at which point, he discovered she knew what she was talking about, and went to get her a soft drink. I met up with her, again, just a couple years ago, and she is now in her mid-60s and because she has been careful about her diet, has had none of the typical side-effects of diabetes.

Sadly, the vast majority of doctors in this country have had little, if any, courses or other training in nutrition, and thus at best, have only a minimal knowledge and understanding of how diet and health are related. Thus, if you have any concerns about how what you eat affects the functioning of your body and your overall health or know that you have a medical condition in which that is an important factor, you must (while continuing to use your physician as a consultant) do your own research and become your own “expert.”


Background Information

Links to Related Information on Our Web Server

The following Web pages contain information related to the nervous and endocrine systems, including more information on how our bodies handle the sugar in our diet, and the role of hormones in development and control of sexual functions, including a genetic condition called AIS that affects hormone function.

Bio Lecture Nervous System and Special Senses
Information on our electrical control system, our sense organs, and a bit of information on the pineal gland illustrating the interaction between our electrical and chemical control systems
Bio Lecture Endocrine System
Information on our chemical control system
Bio Lecture Carbohydrates
Read the sections, “Sugar Utilization by our Bodies” and “Control of Blood Glucose Levels” beginning on about the middle of the page that discuss the hormones involved in regulating blood sugar levels
Bio Lecture Sex-Linked Genes
Read the section on AIS near the bottom, which illustrates the dramatic effect that disfunctioning hormone receptors can have
Bio Lecture Conception, Prenatal Development, and Birth
Pay special attention to the first half of the page which discusses hormones and hormonal control of the female menstrual cycle, but also read the rest of the page which discusses a number of other hormones
Bio Lab Visual Reaction Time Activity
An activity to determine the amount of time it takes to see an image and react
Dr. Fankhauser’s Powerpoint Presentation on Witches’ Ointments
A Powerpoint presentation (not a regular Web page) discussing the psychological and physiological effects of a number of herbal extracts (large file size)

Your Assignment
Write a Poem or Short Story

You are asked to research one of the topics listed below, then write a poem or short story that includes and accurately reflects the information you have gathered. The grading criteria for this assignment are given below, and you should also refer to those as you work on the assignment. A total of 16 points is possible.

  1. Pick one of the following topics to research
  2. Create a poem or short story based on the information you’ve learned. Make your poem or story “fun” to read, but also make sure to include and accurately represent the information you’ve gathered.
  3. At this point, if you are a registered student, you should submit your work.

Grading Criteria

1.   Overall:
2 — Background research on the chosen topic was obviously thorough
1 — The topic was adequately researched
0 — Background research appears to be sketchy
2 — All of the required information (and more?) was included
1 — Most of the required information was included
0 — Little of the required information was included — most missing
2 — The information presented was correct/accurate
1 — There were a few inaccuracies or problems with the information that was presented
0 — The information presented was mostly incorrect
2 — Correct scientific names for all species mentioned, chemical names, names of body parts, etc. were used
1 — Some inaccuracies in usage of names or terminology (for example, use of “stomach” to mean “abdomen”)
0 — Many inaccuracies in usage of terminology
2 — The poem or story was entertaining and fun to read
1 — The poem or story was OK
0 — The poem or story was monotonous and lacked interest
2 — The grammar, English usage, punctuation, and spelling were very good
1 — The grammar, etc. were OK
0 — The grammar, etc. were poor
2 — The student, obviously, went beyond the minimum requirements of the assignment
1 — The student adequately completed the assignment
0 — The student completed considerably less of the assignment than what was required
2 — It is evident that the student used much insight, thoughtfulness, and critical thinking when completing this assignment
1 — The student adequately thought about the assignment – there was, perhaps, a bit of “fuzzy thinking” in a couple places
0 — The assignment gives the appearance of being “slapped together” just to get it done, with little evidence of thoughtfulness
Total Possible:
16 — total points

Copyright © 2006 by J. Stein Carter. All rights reserved.
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