parathormone

Most people have four pea-sized glands, called parathyroid glands, on the thyroid gland in the neck. Though their names are similar, the thyroid and parathyroid glands are completely different. The parathyroid glands make parathyroid hormone (PTH), which helps your body keep the right balance of calcium and phosphorous.

If your parathyroid glands make too much or too little hormone, it disrupts this balance. If they secrete extra PTH, you have hyperparathyroidism, and your blood calcium rises. In many cases, a benign tumor on a parathyroid gland makes it overactive. Or, the extra hormones can come from enlarged parathyroid glands. Very rarely, the cause is cancer.

If you do not have enough PTH, you have hypoparathyroidism. Your blood will have too little calcium and too much phosphorous. Causes include injury to the glands, endocrine disorders, or genetic conditions. Treatment is aimed at restoring the balance of calcium and phosphorous.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Hormones are your body's chemical messengers. They travel in your bloodstream to tissues or organs. They work slowly, over time, and affect many different processes, including:

• Growth and development
• Metabolism - how your body gets energy from the foods you eat
• Sexual function
• Reproduction
• Mood

Endocrine glands, which are special groups of cells, make hormones. The major endocrine glands are the pituitary, pineal, thymus, thyroid, adrenal glands, and pancreas. In addition, men produce hormones in their testes and women produce them in their ovaries.

Hormones are powerful. It takes only a tiny amount to cause big changes in cells or even your whole body. That is why too much or too little of a certain hormone can be serious. Laboratory tests can measure the hormone levels in your blood, urine, or saliva. Your health care provider may perform these tests if you have symptoms of a hormone disorder. Home pregnancy tests are similar - they test for pregnancy hormones in your urine.

Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland in the front of your neck. It makes hormones that control the way the body uses energy. These hormones affect nearly every organ in your body and control many of your body's most important functions. For example, they affect your breathing, heart rate, weight, digestion, and moods.

Thyroid diseases cause your thyroid to make either too much or too little of the hormones. Some of the different thyroid diseases include:

• Goiter, an enlargement of the thyroid gland
• Hyperthyroidism, which happens when your thyroid gland makes more thyroid hormones than your body needs
• Hypothyroidism, which happens when your thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormones
• Thyroid cancer
• Thyroid nodules, lumps in the thyroid gland
• Thyroiditis, swelling of the thyroid

To diagnose thyroid diseases, your health care provider may use a medical history, physical exam, and thyroid tests. In some cases, your provider may also do a biopsy.

Treatment depends on the problem, how severe it is, and what your symptoms are. Possible treatments may include medicines, radioiodine therapy, or thyroid surgery.

Dept. of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health