Are There Still Undiscovered Hormones in Our Body?

[lisab]

I was idly reading this article...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43446129/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/

...when I came to this passage:

And ghrelin is likely just the tip of the iceberg in terms of hormonal changes that occur. There are likely many more hormones we don't know about that aid in weight loss after surgery, Burch said.

Really, is it believed that we don't know all of the hormones in our system? If so, is it likely that there are "many" that we don't know about yet?

If so, how come?

 

[SW VandeCarr]

I was idly reading this article...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43446129/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/

...when I came to this passage:
Really, is it believed that we don't know all of the hormones in our system? If so, is it likely that there are "many" that we don't know about yet?

If so, how come?

We probably know most, if not all, of the important hormones secreted by the major endocrine glands, but there's evidence that there may be many intercellular hormones that are secreted by cells that are not part of the usually recognized endocrine glands (adrenal, thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary, etc.)

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,758811,00.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1258434/?page=1

 

[Proton Soup]

new ones are being found all the time. i think the way it usually comes about is that an effect is seen for which there is no known mechanism. and then the hunt for the mechanism begins. or maybe they find a new receptor, but with no known agent to bind to it.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

An interesting and surprising observation that was made after we sequenced the human genome was that there are ~30,000 genes and an estimated ~100,000 proteins. This is thanks to alternative splicing, polyadenylation and post-transcriptional/translational modification.

Mapping the human transcriptome and proteome is an even bigger task than the genome! On top of that we're still a long way from having a complete map of the metabolome, suffice to say we'll have to wait a while before we know all of what goes into making a human!

 

[LudusRex]

I can tell you that our understanding of hormones is constantly evolving and expanding. While we have made significant progress in identifying and understanding many hormones, it is certainly possible that there are still hormones that we have not yet discovered or fully understand.

The human body is incredibly complex and there are many factors that can influence the production and function of hormones. Additionally, new research and technology allow us to discover and study hormones in ways that were not possible before. Therefore, it is not surprising that there may be "many" hormones that we have not yet identified.

Furthermore, hormones can have different functions and effects in different individuals and circumstances. This makes it even more challenging to fully understand their role in the body.

So, while we have made great strides in our understanding of hormones, there is still much to learn. It is an ongoing process and we must continue to conduct research and studies to further our knowledge in this area.