The endocrine system is a huge and largely unexplored region of the PD experience. Neurologists typically know little of it. Yet it affects everything. Dozens of hormones interacting with dozens of neurotransmitters. Yet there is an artificial line which says that on this side you should be a neurologist and on that side you should be an endocrinologist. Never mind that neither will ever have a complete picture.

We are constantly awash in a sea of chemicals. They are not just a "chemical" either any more than a "word" is just a word. They are messengers carrying reports, queries, and commands from one end of us to the other. And the old model of the powerful brain at the center receiving input through the senses, processing data, and sending orders out the nerve fibers couldn't be more wrong. Every single cell is monitoring the datastream passing by in chemical form and is capable of adding a few sentences of its own when circumstances warrant. Its like the internet, each of us able to add in while monitoring the larger conversation.

If there is a true command center, it has to be the HPA axis (hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal). That is where the Big Three come together - Mind, Body, and World. And its the heart of the endocrine system. See a tiger (World) and your Mind doesn't waste time with the stodgy old brain. It yells at your heart (Body) to beat faster, etc. No brain needed.

....Now, how the heck did I get onto that tangent?...