ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Local hormone

Okay kiddo, so you know how sometimes when you hurt yourself, your body sends a message to your brain that says "ouch, that hurts!" Local hormones are kind of like that, but instead of sending a message to your brain, they send a message to different parts of your body that are nearby.

Let's say you scrape your knee while playing outside. Your body will send a local hormone called prostaglandin to the area around your knee. This hormone will cause the blood vessels around the scrape to get bigger, which makes your knee turn red and feel warm. It will also cause your body to send more white blood cells to the area to help fight any germs that may have gotten inside the scrape.

Local hormones can also be used to help different parts of your body communicate with each other. For example, if your stomach needs more acid to digest your food, it will send a hormone called gastrin to your stomach. This hormone will tell the cells in your stomach to make more acid.

Overall, local hormones are little messengers that help different parts of your body communicate with each other and respond to things like injuries or the need for more acid in your stomach.