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what is endocrine system?
The endocrine system is made of eight major glands, which are groups of cells that produce and secrete chemicals. A gland selects and removes materials from the blood, processes them, and secretes the finished chemical product for use somewhere in the body. Almost every organ and cell in the body is affected by the endocrine system.
 The endocrine system sends signals throughout the body, much like the nervous system, but unlike the immediate responses triggered by the nervous system, the effects can take a few hours or weeks.Hormones released from endocrine tissue into the bloodstream where they travel to target tissue to elicit a response.

Endocrine glands are vascular and generally do not have ducts, using intracellular vacuoles, or granules, to store hormones. They differ from, exocrine glands — salivary glands, sweat glands and glands within the gastrointestinal tract — which have ducts or a hollow lumen.

The endocrine system gets some help from organs such as the kidney, liver, heart and gonads, which have secondary endocrine functions. The kidney, for example, secretes hormones such as erythropoietin and renin.


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