A few words about endocrinology

Endocrinology is the branch of medicine that studies how the endocrine glands work and the conditions that affect them.

The endocrine glands are important organs because they produce hormones: valuable chemical substances that travel through the bloodstream to the whole body, affecting and regulating all of its functions. In this way, the endocrine system interacts with, and helps regulate, all the other systems of the body, such as the musculoskeletal, digestive, respiratory, urinary, reproductive and nervous systems.

Through the action of hormones, the endocrine system takes part in every aspect of life — metabolism, reproduction and adaptation — and has a fundamental influence on the processes of growth, maintenance (homeostasis) and ageing.

Metabolism

One of the most important functions regulated by hormones is metabolism: the sum of all the biochemical reactions involved in how the human body uses and produces energy. It is divided into:

• anabolism, that is, using the energy we get from food to grow and to maintain ourselves, and
• catabolism, that is, using up the energy needed for movement and for all our other physical and mental activities.

What an endocrinologist treats

An endocrinologist deals with hormones, the endocrine glands that produce them, the organs directly affected by their action (such as the ovaries), metabolism in general, and the parts of the central nervous system (for example, the hypothalamus) that regulate hormone secretion and metabolism.

The most common conditions an endocrinologist treats are:

• disorders of the thyroid gland
• polycystic ovary syndrome
• problems linked to periods and the menopause
• diabetes mellitus
• lipid disorders
• obesity and the metabolic syndrome it causes
• metabolic bone disorders, such as osteoporosis

Many of these conditions are interlinked. This means an endocrinologist can manage them as a whole, although doctors in other specialties can handle some of them equally well.