It is difficult to imagine a world without hormones.
Had they not been discovered 100 years ago, John F Kennedy would have lost
his life as a young man to a hormonal imbalance, rather than to a bullet as
US President.

People with Type 1 diabetes would still die because there would be no
insulin therapy to treat them.

There would be no oral contraceptive pills and no babies born by IVF.

A century of discovery

It was Ernest Henry Starling who first coined the term 'hormone' in 1905.

He had been dining with academics at Cambridge University and needed a word
to describe an agent released into the bloodstream that caused activity in a
different part of the body.

It is thought that a colleague who was an authority on Greek poetry
suggested the Greek verb for 'excite' or 'arouse', and the deed was done.

Scientists had been aware of such chemicals earlier than this.

In 1885, Thomas Addison described and later gave his name to the syndrome
that would have killed JFK.

But he was largely ignored, and when the London Medico-Chirurgical Society
would not publish his findings he committed suicide.

A French doctor called Brown-Sequard believed extract of testicles had a
rejuvenating effect in man and tested it on himself.

Similarly, George Oliver, a spa physician working in Harrogate in 1893,
believed extracts of the adrenal glands might raise low blood pressure and
used his son as a guinea-pig.

Since then, more than 30 different hormones have been discovered and have
changed the course of medicine and, in particular, the drugs we take.

Professor Ashley Grossman, consultant endocrinologist at Barts and the
London Hospital, said: "The most dramatic discovery was insulin.

"Years ago, if you developed Type 1 diabetes then within a few weeks you
were dead.

"But the earliest of all of the hormone diseases to be diagnosed was
Addison's disease, which was lethal until it was discovered that it was down
to the adrenal glands not making cortisone.

"They started giving steroids to these patients and they lived."

But there is a darker side to some of the discoveries.

Flip-side

In the 1950s and 60s, thousands of children born with a condition that means
they never reach adult height were given injections of extracts of human
pituitary glands from dead bodies.

"We now know that some of those bodies had the human form of mad cow
disease, CJD, so a small but significant percentage of those children died,"
said Professor Grossman.

He said taking steroid medicines over a long period of time, for arthritis
for example, could give unwanted side effects.

He said it was possible to develop a condition similar to Cushing's
syndrome, which is caused by too much of the hormone cortisol in the body.

This can cause a multitude of problems such as unwanted weight gain,
diabetes and osteoporosis.

Since hormones like testosterone were found, athletes have abused these
steroids to out-perform opponents.

The animals we eat are also fed hormones to make them plumper and meatier.

Future fat fighter

Some fear female hormones are entering our water supplies via urine the
millions of women using the contraceptive pill.

They say this is changing the of male fish and potentially hampering
human fertility.

Professor Grossman said most of the hormone research going on now was to
look for ways to fight obesity.

Two have already been found - leptin, which tells your brain that it is
full, and ghrelin, the hunger hormone that tells you to eat.

"Once we work out how they work we can block them and allow people to
control their body shape," he said.

"I'm sure we will continue to see dramatic discoveries. There are still
quite a few hormones out there that we have yet to find."

Refer: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4194589.stm

--
Tilly

striking1583REMOVE@yahoo.co.nz

From:	Gordon
Subject:	Re: How hormones changed the last century
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 18:28:45 +1300

On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 17:08:36 +1300, Tilly wrote:

> It is difficult to imagine a world without hormones.

Yep we would be dead.

Interesting is the very small amout of a hormone needeed to achieve a
result.

From:	Ashley
Subject:	Re: How hormones changed the last century
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 19:14:30 +1300

"Tilly" wrote in message
news:OI_Id.10917$mo2.832387@news.xtra.co.nz...

>
> A French doctor called Brown-Sequard believed extract of testicles had a
> rejuvenating effect in man and tested it on himself.

I'm trying hard not to think too carefully about what that might mean!

From:	Nicolaas Hawkins
Subject:	Re: How hormones changed the last century
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 22:39:38 +1300

On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 19:14:30 +1300, Ashley
wrote in :

> "Tilly" wrote in message
> news:OI_Id.10917$mo2.832387@news.xtra.co.nz...
>
>>
>> A French doctor called Brown-Sequard believed extract of testicles had a
>> rejuvenating effect in man and tested it on himself.
>
> I'm trying hard not to think too carefully about what that might mean!

Maybe he gave himself a test tickle.

--
Regards,
Nicolaas.

.... No good deed goes unpunished.

From:	Tilly
Subject:	Re: How hormones changed the last century
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 23:35:32 +1300

Nicolaas Hawkins wrote:
> On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 19:14:30 +1300, Ashley
> wrote in
> :
>
>> "Tilly" wrote in message
>> news:OI_Id.10917$mo2.832387@news.xtra.co.nz...
>>
>>>
>>> A French doctor called Brown-Sequard believed extract of testicles
>>> had a rejuvenating effect in man and tested it on himself.
>>
>> I'm trying hard not to think too carefully about what that might
>> mean!
>
> Maybe he gave himself a test tickle.

Wee Willie?

--
Tilly

striking1583REMOVE@yahoo.co.nz

From:	philip
Subject:	Re: How hormones changed the last century
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 21:05:38 +1300

Ashley wrote:
> "Tilly" wrote in message
> news:OI_Id.10917$mo2.832387@news.xtra.co.nz...
>
>
>
>>A French doctor called Brown-Sequard believed extract of testicles had a
>>rejuvenating effect in man and tested it on himself.
>
>
> I'm trying hard not to think too carefully about what that might mean!
>
>
It might depend on whose testicles were being extracted.

Philip

From:	BTMO
Subject:	Re: How hormones changed the last century
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 21:14:44 +1300

"philip" <> wrote

>>>A French doctor called Brown-Sequard believed extract of testicles had a
>>>rejuvenating effect in man and tested it on himself.
>>
>>
>> I'm trying hard not to think too carefully about what that might mean!
> It might depend on whose testicles were being extracted.
>

I guess it also depends on what the extract is, and how it is taken....

From:	Ashley
Subject:	Re: How hormones changed the last century
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 21:43:08 +1300

"BTMO" wrote in message
news:kl2Jd.10978$mo2.837708@news.xtra.co.nz...
>
> "philip" <> wrote
>
>>>>A French doctor called Brown-Sequard believed extract of testicles had a
>>>>rejuvenating effect in man and tested it on himself.
>>>
>>>
>>> I'm trying hard not to think too carefully about what that might mean!
>> It might depend on whose testicles were being extracted.
>>
>
> I guess it also depends on what the extract is, and how it is taken....

And how it was written up in the scientific literature

From:	Axle
Subject:	Re: How hormones changed the last century
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 21:39:33 +1300

BTMO wrote:
> "philip" <> wrote
>
>
>>>>A French doctor called Brown-Sequard believed extract of testicles had a
>>>>rejuvenating effect in man and tested it on himself.
>>>
>>>
>>>I'm trying hard not to think too carefully about what that might mean!
>>
>>It might depend on whose testicles were being extracted.
>>
>
>
> I guess it also depends on what the extract is, and how it is taken....
>
>

Cartman: And I've got the sea men. [raises a bowl of semen up to the
tank and begins scooping the fluid into the tank.]
Kyle: Wow. That's a lot of sea men you've got there, Cartman.
Cartman: Yeah, I bought all that I could at this bank, and then I got
the rest from this guy Ralph in an alley.
Stan: That's cool.
Cartman: Yeah, and the sweet thing is, this stupid asshole didn't even
charge me money for it. He just made me close my eyes and suck it out of
a hose. Heh. [scoops out the last of the semen] There we go. [drops the
empty bowl]
Stan: [hands Cartman the smaller tank] Okay, now let's put the sea ciety
in its new home. [Cartman takes the tank and turns it over, pouring the
sea ciety into the larger tank. Screams are heard from the sea people]
Cartman: Nothin' to do now but wait.[the boys huddle around the new,
larger tank.]
Stan: ...Close your eyes and suck it out of a hose?
Cartman: Uh-huh, suck it out of a hose, yeah.
Stan: Hm.

From:	Gordon
Subject:	Re: How hormones changed the last century
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 18:21:59 +1300

On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 17:08:36 +1300, Tilly wrote:

> Some fear female hormones are entering our water supplies via urine the
> millions of women using the contraceptive pill.
>
> They say this is changing the of male fish and potentially hampering
> human fertility.

So the pill carries on its work. ;-)

From:	John B
Subject:	Re: How hormones changed the last century
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 18:24:38 +1300

"Tilly" wrote in message
news:OI_Id.10917$mo2.832387@news.xtra.co.nz...
> It is difficult to imagine a world without hormones.
> Had they not been discovered 100 years ago, John F Kennedy would have lost
> his life as a young man to a hormonal imbalance, rather than to a bullet as
> US President.
>
> People with Type 1 diabetes would still die because there would be no
> insulin therapy to treat them.
>
> There would be no oral contraceptive pills and no babies born by IVF.
>
> A century of discovery
>
> It was Ernest Henry Starling who first coined the term 'hormone' in 1905.
>
> He had been dining with academics at Cambridge University and needed a word
> to describe an agent released into the bloodstream that caused activity in a
> different part of the body.
>
> It is thought that a colleague who was an authority on Greek poetry
> suggested the Greek verb for 'excite' or 'arouse', and the deed was done.
>
> Scientists had been aware of such chemicals earlier than this.
>
> In 1885, Thomas Addison described and later gave his name to the syndrome
> that would have killed JFK.
>
> But he was largely ignored, and when the London Medico-Chirurgical Society
> would not publish his findings he committed suicide.
>
> A French doctor called Brown-Sequard believed extract of testicles had a
> rejuvenating effect in man and tested it on himself.
>
> Similarly, George Oliver, a spa physician working in Harrogate in 1893,
> believed extracts of the adrenal glands might raise low blood pressure and
> used his son as a guinea-pig.
>
> Since then, more than 30 different hormones have been discovered and have
> changed the course of medicine and, in particular, the drugs we take.
>
> Professor Ashley Grossman, consultant endocrinologist at Barts and the
> London Hospital, said: "The most dramatic discovery was insulin.
>
> "Years ago, if you developed Type 1 diabetes then within a few weeks you
> were dead.
>
> "But the earliest of all of the hormone diseases to be diagnosed was
> Addison's disease, which was lethal until it was discovered that it was down
> to the adrenal glands not making cortisone.
>
> "They started giving steroids to these patients and they lived."
>
> But there is a darker side to some of the discoveries.
>
> Flip-side
>
> In the 1950s and 60s, thousands of children born with a condition that means
> they never reach adult height were given injections of extracts of human
> pituitary glands from dead bodies.
>
> "We now know that some of those bodies had the human form of mad cow
> disease, CJD, so a small but significant percentage of those children died,"
> said Professor Grossman.
>
> He said taking steroid medicines over a long period of time, for arthritis
> for example, could give unwanted side effects.
>
> He said it was possible to develop a condition similar to Cushing's
> syndrome, which is caused by too much of the hormone cortisol in the body.
>
> This can cause a multitude of problems such as unwanted weight gain,
> diabetes and osteoporosis.
>
> Since hormones like testosterone were found, athletes have abused these
> steroids to out-perform opponents.
>
> The animals we eat are also fed hormones to make them plumper and meatier.
>
> Future fat fighter
>
> Some fear female hormones are entering our water supplies via urine the
> millions of women using the contraceptive pill.
>
> They say this is changing the of male fish and potentially hampering
> human fertility.
>
> Professor Grossman said most of the hormone research going on now was to
> look for ways to fight obesity.
>
> Two have already been found - leptin, which tells your brain that it is
> full, and ghrelin, the hunger hormone that tells you to eat.
>
> "Once we work out how they work we can block them and allow people to
> control their body shape," he said.
>
> "I'm sure we will continue to see dramatic discoveries. There are still
> quite a few hormones out there that we have yet to find."
>
> Refer: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4194589.stm
>
> --
> Tilly

Exciting stuff eh?

--
John B

From:	BTMO
Subject:	Re: How hormones changed the last century
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 17:22:06 +1300

"Tilly" <> wrote

> It is difficult to imagine a world without hormones.

How do you make a hormone?

Don't pay...

;-)