hormonal and metabolic disorders
Overview of the Thyroid Gland
How the body adjusts thyroid hormones
The body has a complex mechanism for adjusting the level of thyroid hormones. First, the hypothalamus, located just above the pituitary gland in the brain, secretesthyrotropin-releasing hormone, which causes the pituitary gland to produce thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Just as the name suggests, TSH stimulates the thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormones. The pituitary gland slows or speeds the release of TSH, depending on whether the levels of thyroid hormones circulating in the blood are getting too high or too low. 