A thermostat first senses the temperature. If it is too cold, it tells the furnace to make some heat and makes sure to shut off the air conditioning. If it is too hot, the thermostat makes sure the heat is off and even turns on the air conditioner if needed. It senses the levels of circulating hormones and tells the other glands, through the pituitary, to release some hormones and stop releasing others. Homeostasis and Aging Fortunately, true hormonal homeostasis is never attained.
Maturation seems to occur in part via a progressive loss of hypothalamic sensitivity from infancy.
Thus, the progressive loss of hypothalmic sensitivity may the basis of all hormone related maturation AND aging processes. Death of hypothalmic cells, which as nerve cells do not replicate or regenerate. The Disease of Aging Dilman intuited that all of the diseases of aging are characterized by three similar metabolic changes. The high blood insulin levels seen in Syndrome X are the result of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is related to a lose of sensitivity of cell membranes to insulin.