Endocrine Function throughout Life (Nursing)

00:00 So most endocrine glands are going to operate well into our old age; however, we find that our growth hormone levels begin to decline with age and accounts for things like muscular atrophy as we get older. The thyroid hormones also decline with age and contribute to our lowering of our basal metabolic rate or how our metabolism slows as we age. The parathyroid hormone levels are going to remain fairly constant with age. However, in older women because of the lack of estrogen, they can become more vulnerable to bone demineralization effects of the parathyroid hormone. Glucose tolerance can also deteriorate with age and is usually associated with insulin and glucagon. Also as we age, the ovaries undergo significant changes and become unresponsive to the gonadotropins. This problem is associated with an estrogen deficiency. In males, testosterone also begins to diminish with age but the effects are usually not seen until very old age.