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.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- Calcium Test(American Association for Clinical Chemistry) - http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/calcium/test.html
- PTH Test(American Association for Clinical Chemistry) - http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/pth/test.html
- Hectorol(Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/druginfo/hectorol.htm
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Parathyroid Cancer (PDQ): Treatment
(National Cancer Institute) - http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/parathyroid/patient
Also available in Spanish http://www.cancer.gov/espanol/pdq/tratamiento/paratiroides/patient/
- Hypercalcemia(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/hypercalcemia/DS00976/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
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Hyperparathyroidism(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://www.endocrine.niddk.nih.gov/pubs/hyper/hyper.htm
- Hyperparathyroidism(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/hyperparathyroidism/DS00396/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
- Hypoparathyroidism(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/hypoparathyroidism/DS00952/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
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Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type I(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://www.endocrine.niddk.nih.gov/pubs/men1/men1.htm
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Velocardiofacial Syndrome(National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) - http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/velocario.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/spanish/velocario_span.asp
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Renal Osteodystrophy(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/renalosteodystrophy/
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What Is an Endocrinologist?(Hormone Foundation) - http://www.hormone.org/public/endocrinologist.cfm
Also available in Spanish http://www.hormone.org/Spanish/que_es_un_endocrinologo.cfm
- Minimally Invasive Radioguided Parathyroid (MIRP) Surgery(OR-Live) - Requires media player - One hour program - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM/rnh.cfm?id=184
- Atlas of the Body: The Endocrine System(American Medical Association) - http://www.medem.com/MedLB/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZW5TZ46JC&sub_cat=514
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Hyperparathyroidism(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Hyperparathyroidism%22
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Hypoparathyroidism(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Hypoparathyroidism%22
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Multiple+Endocrine+Neoplasia%22
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Parathyroid Diseases(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Parathyroid+Diseases%22
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Learning about Velocardiofacial Syndrome(National Human Genome Research Institute) - http://www.genome.gov/25521139
- Article: Effectiveness of surgeon interpretation of technetium tc 99m sestamibi scans... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18794440&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Efficacy of cinacalcet administered with the first meal after dialysis:... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18793528&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Predicting the success of limited exploration for primary hyperparathyroidism using... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18791362&tool=MedlinePlus
- Parathyroid Disorders -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=parathyroid+diseases[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(review[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- AACE Physician Finder(American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists) - http://www.aace.com/resources/memsearch.php
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National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases - http://www.niddk.nih.gov/
- Endocrine System - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/endocrinesystem.html
The primary NIH organization for research on Parathyroid Disorders is the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases - http://www.niddk.nih.gov/
Parathyroid Disorders - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/parathyroiddisorders.html