Endocrine system
Pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, endocrine pancreas, adrenal and endocrine neoplasia syndromes.
34 pages
Lesion
- Adrenocortical adenoma and carcinomaAdrenal lumps are often found by chance on scans
- Adrenocortical insufficiencyWhen the adrenals stop making cortisol and aldosterone, the body cannot handle stress
- Cushing syndrome: causes and the adrenalsCushing syndrome is too much cortisol
- Diabetes: chronic lesionsLong-standing diabetes leaves recognisable marks in vessels, kidneys, eyes and nerves
- Follicular thyroid carcinoma and NIFTPFollicular cancer looks like normal thyroid tissue
- Goitre: diffuse and multinodularA goitre is an enlarged thyroid
- Graves diseaseIn Graves disease an antibody switches the thyroid on permanently
- Hashimoto thyroiditisThe immune system slowly destroys the thyroid
- Hyperaldosteronism: primary and secondaryToo much aldosterone from the adrenal causes high blood pressure and low potassium
- Hypopituitarism and posterior pituitary disordersWhen most of the pituitary is destroyed, the glands it controls fail
- Lactotroph PitNET (prolactinoma)A prolactinoma makes too much prolactin, so periods stop and the breasts leak milk
- Medullary thyroid carcinomaA thyroid cancer of the calcitonin-making cells
- Other thyroiditis: de Quervain, painless, RiedelBesides Hashimoto, the thyroid can be inflamed after a virus, after childbirth or by scarring
- Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumoursRare pancreas tumours of hormone cells
- Papillary thyroid carcinomaThe commonest thyroid cancer
- Pheochromocytoma and paragangliomaA tumour of the adrenal medulla that pours out adrenaline-like hormones, causing attacks of high…
- Pituitary neuroendocrine tumours (PitNETs): overviewMost pituitary tumours are benign growths of one hormone-making cell line
- Poorly differentiated and anaplastic thyroid carcinomaA few thyroid cancers lose their resemblance to thyroid tissue and grow very fast
- Primary hyperparathyroidismOne overactive parathyroid gland, usually a benign adenoma, raises blood calcium
- Somatotroph PitNET: gigantism and acromegalyA tumour that makes too much growth hormone makes children grow very tall and makes adults'…
- Suprasellar and pineal tumours: craniopharyngiomaSome tumours near the pituitary come from leftover embryonic tissue, not from hormone cells
- Thyroid nodule and follicular adenomaThyroid lumps are common and most are harmless
Mechanism
- Congenital adrenal hyperplasiaIn congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a missing enzyme blocks cortisol production
- Diabetes: acute complications (DKA, HHS)Very high sugar can turn the blood acidic (ketoacidosis) or dangerously concentrated…
- Diabetes: how hyperglycaemia damages tissueYears of high sugar damage small and large blood vessels and nerves, through several chemical…
- Hypothyroidism: causesToo little thyroid hormone slows the body
- Monogenic and gestational diabetesA few people have diabetes from a single gene change
- Secondary hyperparathyroidism and hypoparathyroidismWhen calcium stays low, the parathyroids grow to compensate
- Thyroid cancer: genetics and radiationEach kind of thyroid cancer has its own gene changes
- Thyrotoxicosis: causesToo much thyroid hormone speeds up the whole body
- Type 1 diabetesIn type 1 diabetes, the immune system destroys the insulin-making cells
- Type 2 diabetesIn type 2 diabetes the body's cells stop listening to insulin, and over time the pancreas cannot…
Topic
- Diabetes mellitus: diagnosis and classificationDiabetes means blood sugar stays too high, because the body lacks insulin or does not respond to…
- Multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) syndromesInherited syndromes that cause tumours in several hormone glands
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Educational content on the mechanisms of disease; not a diagnostic or treatment guide and no substitute for a health professional's advice. No doses are given.
Representative model, for educational purposes only.