How does the thyroid manage your metabolism? - Emma Bryce
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-does-the-thyroid-manage-your-metabolism-emma-bryce↵↵Nestled in the tissues of your neck is a small, ...
========== Nestled in the tissues of your neck
is a small unassuming organ that wields enormous power over your body. It's called the thyroid. Like the operations manager in a company, its role is to make sure that the cells
in your body are working properly. It does that by using hormones to deliver
messages to every single one of them. This high-ranking organ
is made up of lobules that each contains smaller cells
called follicles, which store the hormones
the thyroid sends out into your blood. Two of the most important
hormones it produces are thyroxine and triiodothyronine,
or T3 and T4. As messengers, the hormone's job is to instruct every cell in the body
when to consume oxygen and nutrients. That maintains the body's metabolism, the series of reactions our cells perform
to provid...