Endocrinology Disorders

Endocrine disorders range from the common, like sugar diabetes, to the hidden, like hyperthyroidism, to the physically devastating, like gigantism. Each has symptoms affecting physical attributes or metabolic activity. When these glands malfunction or a tumor develops on them, they over-produce or under-produce hormones that the human body needs to function, like insulin, or produce hormones that are not needed at all times, like adrenaline in the case of pheochromocytomas, where the adrenal glands secrete adrenaline during non-threatening situations, causing nervousness and tremors.

Glands

• The endocrine system consists of a network of small organs that secrete chemicals called hormones into the body. These glands include the pancreas, thyroid, thymus, pineal, pituitary, adrenal, ovaries and testes. Each has its own function within the body. The pancreas manufactures insulin to regulate blood sugar. The thyroid processes iodine. The thymus produces infection-fighting T-cells during childhood and adolescence. The pineal gland produces melatonin, an important hormone that regulates your sleep/wake patterns and helps regulate hormones secreted by the ovaries and testes. The pituitary gland secretes growth hormone, the adrenal secretes adrenaline, the testes secrete testosterone and ovaries secrete estrogen and progestin.

Disorders

• Each gland has its own list of disorders that can occur if the gland malfunctions in some way. If the pancreas malfunctions, it will cause "sugar" diabetes. If the thyroid malfunctions, one can either develop a goiter, develop a very fast metabolism (hyperthyroidism), which won't allow you to gain weight, or a slow metabolism (hypothyroidism), which results in obesity. If the thymus malfunctions, it could compromise the immunity in your body. A malfunctioning pineal gland can cause sleep disorders and depression. A malfunctioning pituitary gland causes disorders like gigantism (abnormally large size) and dwarfism (proportionately small size below four feet). Malfunctioning ovaries and testes lead to sterility, breast development in men and facial hair growth in women.

Testing

• Testing for endocrine disorders depends on the specific issue. By performing a glucose tolerance test, that is, giving a patient a sugary liquid to drink and drawing blood every hour to measure the amount of insulin in their blood, a doctor can determine if his pancreas is working. Other disorders like gigantism or dwarfism may rely on visual cues. In gigantism, the individual has thicker facial features, fingers and toes and is abnormally tall for her age. In proportional dwarfism, the individual is shorter than the third percentile for his age, according to pediatric growth charts. Both use other tests like blood tests to measure hormone levels and, in gigantism, an MRI to rule out a tumor on the pituitary gland.

Diagnosis

• Diagnosis for endocrine disorders occurs after the patient has gone through specific tests per the specific disorder. Those people with a goiter, for example, caused by an enlarged thyroid gland, are diagnosed after hormone tests, antibody tests, a thyroid scan (after a radioactive dye is injected into the elbow) or an ultrasound is performed. Those with hypothyroidism, as another example, receive confirmation after a blood test reveals the levels of T3 or T4 hormones, which regulate the metabolism.

Treatments

• Treatments for endocrine disorders include hormone injections, to correct the absence or low levels of hormone, like in the case of sugar diabetes, proportional dwarfism and hypothyroidism. Other treatments include surgery, like in the case of a goiter, where the thyroid gland has enlarged and is cutting off the windpipe. Those who have gigantism and have a tumor on their pituitary gland may undergo surgery or chemotherapy to remove the tumor. Those with hyperthyroidism, however, require medication that counteracts the effects of the thyroid hormone.