A femoral hernia occurs when the intestine enters the canal carrying the femoral artery into the upper thigh. Femoral hernias are most common in women, especially those who are pregnant or obese. In an umbilical hernia, part of the small intestine passes through the abdominal wall near the navel.
Parathyroid hormone is the most important endocrine regulator of calcium and phosphorus concentration in extracellular fluid. This hormone is secreted from cells of the parathyroid glands and finds its major target cells in bone and kidney.
Target cells are specific to the hormone; a hormone specific to a target cell can only affect that target tissue because of the presence of receptors for the hormone on the target cells. Some endocrine glands are so complex and so specific that certain sections of the gland produce different hormones.