• Question: how does the hypothalamus control and moderate anti-diaretic hormone?

    Asked by iamripped to Fiona, Joanna, William on 24 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Joanna Brooks

      Joanna Brooks answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      Hello again hon! The hypothalamus is located deep inside the brain just above the brain stem (this connects the brain to the spinal cord). The hypothalamus is involved in regulating hormones to help control things like hunger (the hormone Leptin) for example.

      Anti-diuretic hormones like ‘oxytocin’ (used for reproduction in females) and ‘vasopressin’ (used for helping control blood pressure and kidney function) are also regulated by the hypothalamus. What I mean by regulation is that the right levels of these hormones are kept steady in the body.

    • Photo: William Davies

      William Davies answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      basically the brain monitors the concentration of various salts in the blood, and if necessary releases a protein known as anti-diuretic hormone (or more commonly vasopressin) from the hypothalamus, the function of which is to control the amount of water that is reabsorbed into the body by the kidneys (which in turn affects the concentration of various chemicals in the body)

    • Photo: Fiona Randall

      Fiona Randall answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      Sorry, I typed in the answer to a different question then. The hypothalamus has osmoreceptors that detect the water concentration of the blood. These receptors cause the hypothalamus to release antidiuretic hormone which can act on the cells in the medulla of the kidney to make them take more water back from the urine, basically the hormone makes you wee less. The hormone is how blood pressure and water levels in the body are controlled.

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