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Simon Aylwin
London Endocrinology
Where is the pituitary gland what does the pituitary gland do?
Dr Simon Aylwin of London Endocrinology explains that the pituitary gland is situated in the base of the brain. It’s a small gland that controls a variety of endocrine systems around the body.
Transcript
So the pituitary gland is situated just in the base of the brain. Just in here. It's a small gland that controls a variety of different endocrine systems around the body. It makes hormones that stimulate other organs. So thyroid stimulating hormones stimulates the thyroid. Adrenocorticotropic hormone or ACTH, stimulates the adrenal cortex to make cortisol. Growth hormone affects the body directly for vertical growth and also causes a hormone called IGF-1 to be produced by the liver, which has other effects. The pituitary makes prolactin which has direct stimulation on the breast to produce breast milk, and two hormones that regulate the testis and the ovaries, which are LH and FSH, standing for luteinising hormone and follicle stimulating hormone, and those cause the ovaries and testis to produce their hormones and to produce sperm or eggs respectively.
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