Definition

Endocrine glands produce hormones into the blood or lymph systems. These glands include the thyroid, parathyroid, hypothalamus, pineal, pituitary, adrenal, islets 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.

Endocrine glands
Brain-thyroid link

Information

When a gland produces a substance, it is called secretion. 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 (unclear genitalia)

Pancreas:

• Diabetes
• Hypoglycemia

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Review Date:8/1/2005
Reviewed By: Nikheel S. Kolatkar, MD, Clinical and Research Fellow, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Hypertension, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.