Hormones are chemicals such as adrenaline, which control our body and cause our heart to pound in times of stress.
The first hormone was discovered in 1902 by William Bayliss and Ernest Starling, two British physiologists (people who study how living things work). They found that when food reaches the stomach, a chemical is released into the bloodstream, making the pancreas secrete digestive juices. They called this chemical secretin. The term ‘hormone’ was later coined by Starling. It is derived from the Greek expression meaning ‘setting in motion’.
Physiology made a great leap when Bayliss and Starling introduced the concept of hormone with recognition of chemical regulation three years later. Even today, our understanding of hormones is a work in progress.
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