Chapter XIV 



THE RELATION OF THE ADRENALS TO THE OTHER 

 ENDOCRINE ORGANS 



The various endocrine organs are intimately related to one 

 another and mutually interdependent for their normal ac- 

 tivities. Ablation of one endocrine gland will usually be re- 

 flected by obvious alterations in the structure and functional 

 activity of the others. The alterations in activity of one gland 

 will affect the general activity of many parts of the organism 

 and these changes in turn will be reflected in the activities of 

 the endocrine organs. It is, therefore, erroneous to suppose, as 

 many endocrinologists do, that changes occurring in any endo- 

 crine gland as a result of a modification in the activity of 

 another gland indicate that the latter "controls" or produces a 

 "hormone" which activates the former. Such loose reasoning 

 is responsible for the prolific multiplication of "hormones" 

 which are in many cases only hypothetical entities invented to 

 cover ignorance of the nature of some change occurring in the 

 body. 



The adrenal has often been pictured as controlling many 

 other glands and being responsible for their dysfunctions or 

 suffering from their "miscontrol." It cannot be denied that 

 the other endocrine glands reflect disturbances in adrenal 

 activity and vice versa, and we shall, in the present chapter, 

 describe these changes and attempt to evaluate their signifi- 

 cance. 



HYPOPHYSIS 



The adrenal glands and the hypophysis are mutually depend- 

 ent upon the integrity of one another, for extirpation of either 

 of these organs results in anatomically demonstrable changes 



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