· What disease does insufficient thyroxin production lead to?
· How is the level of production of the hormone thyroxin determined?
· Why is the collaboration between this hormone and growth
hormone important?
The cells of the eyes that enable you to read this paper need glucose
for nourishment. A system that calculates the amount of sugar in
your blood and keeps that level stable has therefore been installed
in your body. The number of times your heart needs to beat a
minute, the level of calcium stored in your bones, the amount of
blood your kidneys filter in a minute and thousands of other similar
details are calculated and organized by means of the planning and a
communications network among the cells. This chemical
communication system that ensures 100 trillion cells work together
in harmony is known as the hormone system. The system contains a
number of working hormones. One of these is the hormone thyroxin.
The tissues that comprise the human body are constantly being
renewed. In order for this to happen, 200 million cells are born in
the body every minute and replace dead cells. The supervision of
this immaculate system has been entrusted, at the desire of
Almighty God, to this hormone called thyroxin. This supervises the
body, determines cells whose life span has been completed and
issues commands to the relevant units for new production to take
place. In other words, the renewal of the body depends on the
activity of this hormone.
The Miraculous Characteristics of the Hormone Thyroxin
To grasp the importance of the hormone thyroxin, all you need do is
look in the mirror. There is a proportion right from birth in
everyone's mouth, nose, eyes, face and body. You are indebted to the
hormone thyroxin, created by Almighty God with flawless functioning,
for this proportion. If thyroxin molecules had not visited your
cells one by one many years ago when that body was still developing
and told them how to divide, then the organs of our body would be
completely disproportional and this could even lead to mental
retardation.
Indeed, mental retardation appears as a result of the disease known
as cretinism, caused by insufficient production of the hormone
thyroxin immediately after birth. At the end of the developmental
process, people who suffer from this disease have disproportionate
bodies, generally having short legs and large heads. Thyroxin
deficiency also causes dwarfism.
How Is the Hormone Thyroxin Released?
A system with advanced technology and planning has been created to
regulate the amount of thyroxin secreted and the timing. Release of
the hormone thyroxin takes place as the result of a chain of
commands. Pieces of flesh consisting of combinations of unconscious
cells have a highly disciplined and regular hierarchy among
themselves.
When thyroxin is needed, the hypothalamus, the seat of the hormonal
system, sends a command (TRH – Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone) to the
pituitary gland, the hormonal system's orchestral conductor. The
pituitary gland that receives the command realizes that the thyroid
gland has to go into action. It immediately sends a command (TSH –
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) to the thyroid. The final link in the
chain of commands is that the thyroid gland immediately produces
thyroxin in the light of that instruction and distributes it
throughout the body by way of the blood stream.
Millions of processes are taking place in your body as you read
this. Through these processes, calculations are made regarding
what cells in which part of your body need, and what they need to
do. Steps are taken to meet the cells' needs, and the cells are
told, one by one, what they must do. Thanks to the flawless
communication system inside your body, its 100 trillion cells meet
all your needs without your ever being aware of it. This flawless
communication takes place thanks to your hormones. Thyroxin is one
of the many hormones in your body.
The Sensitive Level of Thyroxin Production
The level of thyroxin secreted is determined thanks to a special
system created by God with enormous artistry. This system consists
of two separate measurement and feedback mechanisms. Both of these
mechanisms are examples of a matchless engineering.
When the level of thyroxin in the blood rises above normal,
thyroxin establishes a very interesting effect on the pituitary
gland and sometimes directly on the hypothalamus: it reduces the
sensitivity of the pituitary gland to TRH. A little reflection here
will reveal a marvel here because the task of TRH is to stimulate the
pituitary gland and arrange for a command (TSH) to be sent to the
thyroid gland. This command represents the second link in the chain
set up for production of thyroxin.
The system has been created in such detail that the rising thyroxin
takes a highly intelligent precaution to ensure that over-production
does not take place and interrupts the chain of command established
for its own manufacture. In this way, when the level of thyroxin in
the blood rises above normal, thyroxin automatically slows down
its own manufacture.
There is also a second system that determines the level of thyroxin
production. Rising thyroxin affects the cells of the hypothalamus,
and these cells reduce TRH production. The production of TSH
secreted from the pituitary gland therefore declines and thyroxin
production slows down.
Are You Aware of the Miraculous Processes Taking Place in Your Body
Moment by Moment?
Together with the nervous system, the hormone system establishes
co-ordination of the body's cells. If we compare the nervous system
to messages sent over the internet, then the hormone system
resembles messages sent by letter; slower, but effective over a
longer period of time.
Examination of these systems that manage the body reveals a major
truth of which people are unaware. Some people think that they
manage and direct their own lives. When asked, "How much control do
you have over your own body?" these people will reply, "Total
control." Yet, that answer conflicts with the scientific facts
because people can only control a very small part of their bodies,
and even then, only partially. For example, they can use their
bodies to walk or talk, or they can make things by using their
hands. However, thousands of chemical and physical events in the
depths of the body take place independently of a person's knowledge
and will. Someone who thinks he is in charge of his own body is
therefore making a grave error. In one verse God says:
" Say: 'Have you thought about your partner gods, those you call
upon besides God? Show me what they have created of the earth; or do
they have a partnership in the heavens?' Have We given them a Book
whose Clear Signs they follow? No indeed! The wrongdoers promise
each other nothing but delusion. " (Surat al-Fatir, 40)
Thyroxin and Growth Hormone at Work
Thyroxin does not act alone during the growth stage in children but
together with growth hormone. Growth hormone is a molecule that
tells the child's cells to grow and multiply during the
developmental stage. In addition, this hormone also determines the
number and amount of cell divisions. However, there is another very
important detail in addition to determining the amount and number;
the rate of cell division. Thyroxin enters the equation at this
stage and affects the speed of cell division during childhood. In
this way, the individual completes his or her healthy development.
The people you see in daily life, your school friends, people
walking on the streets, your work colleagues, your family; all
these people owe the shape of their bodies to two tiny molecules
created in a perfect manner by Almighty God – growth hormone and
thyroxin. These hormones have been released at just the right time
and in just the right quantities; they have commanded trillions of
cells and have told all these cells how much and at what rate to
multiply, the result being the perfectly shaped human body.
The level of production of these molecules in human beings has been
very carefully adjusted in every person's body – neither too much,
nor too little. What would happen if there were serious variations
in the production of these hormones from person to person? In that
event, there would be serious variations in people's appearances.
Billions of people would be two and a half or three meters tall,
and billions of others just one meter or less. Each one would have
disproportionate bodies and organs and almost all would suffer from
profound mental retardation. Billions of people would die while
they were still in adolescence.
Conclusion: "… Everything has its measure with Him." (Surat ar-Ra'd, 8)
A person's physical appearance and characteristics come about
through two tiny molecules – immaculately created by God – growth
hormone and thyroxin. If thyroxin did not calculate the number of
diminishing cells or produced more or less than were needed, the
result would be turmoil in the body. Since cells could not be
renewed sufficiently, premature aging would occur in one's physical
appearance and organs would become unable to function.
Overproduction would mean that organs would grow in an uncontrolled
manner, tumors would occur, and this would quickly lead to death.
However, by creating these two miraculous hormones, our Almighty
Lord has created His servants in a flawless manner:
" He created the heavens and the Earth with truth and formed you,
giving you the best of forms. And He is your final destination ."
(Surat al-Taghabun, 3)
The Perfect Equivalence Between Cells and Hormones
Hormones are generally described as a signal group planned and
coded to regulate the interior of the human body. These signals
stimulate cells in different organs and tissues. A hormone goes
unrecognized in the different tissues it passes through until it
reaches the target cell. A question comes to mind at this point;
how does the cell identify its own hormone?
The cells targeted by hormones have an antenna or receptor on their
surface. This receptor is programmed with knowledge of the hormone
that binds to it. In this way, the hormone sent out never binds to a
wrong receptor, and no wrong organ or tissue is ever stimulated.
(Eldra Pearl Solomon, Introduction to Human Anatomy and Physiology,
p. 132)
When the hormone molecule attaches to the receptor on the cell
surface, a cascade of reactions takes place inside the cell. As a
result of these reactions, the cell does what it is commanded to do.
This happens as follows: For example, if the instruction sent
commands the cell to produce a specific protein, then various
enzymes in the cell go into action. These enzymes go to the DNA,
the cell's data bank, find the information for the relevant protein
and copy it. The production of the protein in question thus begins.
The components of the system work just like the links in a chain.
Failure of any of the chains to do its job will cause the chain to
break; in other words, it will compromise the entire system. Such
an interruption will be very dangerous for the body, and can
sometimes even end in death.
Thyroxin molecules released into the blood stream by the thyroid
gland bind to a transport molecule created specifically for this
purpose and thus travel through the blood stream, and they cannot
discharge their function so long as they are attached to this
molecule. Only four out of 10,000 thyroxin molecules are free in the
bloodstream. It is thus only four out of every 10,000 thyroxin
molecules that affects the rate of cellular metabolism. There is no
doubt that this is proof that God reigns over all the worlds,
whether we can see them or not, that he enfolds all things and that
he determines the numbers of all things on Earth:
" ...He [God] encompasses what is in their hands and has counted
the exact number of everything." (Surat al-Jinn, 28)
"To God belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call on Him by them and
abandon those who desecrate His Names. They will be repaid for what
they did." (Surat al-A'raf. 180)
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