Human Anatomy and Physiology : Help with Hormone Effects

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Human Anatomy and Physiology

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Example Questions

Example Question #21 : Systems Physiology

A baseball player is taking exogenous steroids for 1 year. Which of the following organs will be suppressed? 

Possible Answers:

Lungs

Kidneys

Liver

Heart

Adrenal glands

Correct answer:

Adrenal glands

Explanation:

Steroids, when taken exogenously, diminish the production of steroids in the body. This can lead to atrophy of the adrenal glands (responsible for producing cortisol-stress steroid hormone). Thus, when patients are taking steroids for whatever reasons (sports, chemo, infection and etc) it is important for the steroids to be tapered off and not removed immediately since the body needs time to begin to reproduce the hormone again. 

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