How does the endocrine system and the nervous system maintain human health?

Answer 1

The nervous system has many different mechanisms that it uses to maintain homeostasis in terms of modulating incoming signals and the processing of those signals. Interconnecting neurons can upmodulate or downmodulate a signal through the release of various neurotransmitters that are excitatory (increase signal intensity) or inhibitory (decrease signal intensity).

In addition to this, more long-term mechanisms are those of upregulation and downregulation. This involves many different chemical factors that cause the neuron to increase receptor density or function (making the nerve more sensitive to a signal) or decrease receptor density or function (making the nerve less sensitive to a signal).

The brain interacts with and controls the endocrine system through the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland in the brain.

The endocrine system has many different "master" hormones and secondary hormones that control functions throughout the body. There are growth hormones that are turned on and off, sex hormones that regulate growth and reproductive function, and various other hormones that control bone density, water and salt balance, renal function, liver function, etc.. Just like the nervous system, these are controlled by a feedback loop that tells the system whether a surplus or deficiency of a given signal or activity level is found in each system.

Answer 2

Homeostasis, dynamic equilibrium, steady state, coordination, regulation, human body, and heart. It can be disrupted by parasites, fungi, bacteria and viruses.