Endocrine glands
Key points
- Endocrine glands produce and secrete hormones into the blood or lymph systems.
- There are many disorders that can result when too few hormones are secreted (hyposecretion) or too many are secreted (hypersecretion).
- These glands include the thyroid, parathyroid, hypothalamus, pineal, pituitary, adrenal, islands of Langerhans in the pancreas, and the gonads (testes and ovaries).
- The effects of these hormones may affect one organ or tissue, or the entire body.
Definition
Endocrine glands produce and secrete hormones into the blood or lymph systems. These glands include the thyroid, parathyroid, hypothalamus, pineal, pituitary, adrenal, islands of Langerhans in the pancreas, and the gonads (testes and ovaries). The effects of these hormones may affect one organ or tissue, or the entire body.
Information
There are many disorders that can result when too few hormones are secreted (hyposecretion) or too many are secreted (hypersecretion). Here is a partial list of disorders that may result when a particular gland does not produce the right amount of hormones.
Thyroid:
- congenital hypothyroidism
- myxedema
- goiter
- thyrotoxicosis
Parathyroid:
- tetany
- renal calculi
- excessive loss of minerals from bone
Adrenal:
- Addison's disease
- adrenogenital syndrome
- Cushing's syndrome
- pheochromocytoma
Pituitary:
- dwarfism
- acromegaly
- diabetes
- gigantism
- diabetes insipidus
Testes and ovaries:
- lack of sex development (ambiguous genitalia)
Pancreas:
- diabetes
- hypoglycemia
Written and revised by
Andrey Nailor, M.D.
Our doctors write and review articles for accuracy and keep them up to date.
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