| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Acromegaly | a disorder marked by progressive enlargement of the head, face, hands, and feet; due to excessive secretion of somatotrophin; organomegaly and metabolic disorders occur; diabetes mellitus may develop. |
| Addison's disease | is a rare endocrine disorder in which the adrenal gland does not produce enough steroid hormones |
| Cretinism | is a condition of severely stunted physical and mental growth due to untreated congenital deficiency of thyroid hormones (hypothyroidism) or from prolonged nutritional deficiency of iodine |
| Cushing's disease | disorder resulting from increased adrenocortical secretion of cortisol due to any one of several sources, is a hormone (endocrine) disorder caused by high levels of cortisol in the blood |
| Diabetes insipidus | is a condition characterized by excessive thirst and excretion of large amounts of severely diluted urine, with reduction of fluid intake having no effect on the latter. There are several different types, the most common is caused by a deficiency of vasopressin |
| Diabetes mellitus | caused by an absolute or relative deficiency of insulin and is characterized, in more severe cases, by chronic hyperglycemia, glycosuria, water and electrolyte loss, ketoacidosis and coma. |
| Exophthalmos | protrusion of one or both eyeballs; can be congenital and familial or due to a pathology, such as due to retroorbital tumor. |
| Glycosuria | urinary excretion of glucose. |
| Goiter | A chronic enlargement of the thyroid gland. |
| Glucose tolerance test | A test for diabetes or for hypoglycemic states such as may be seen rarely in patients with insulinomas. Following ingestion of 75g of glucose while patient is fasting. In a normal patient the blood glucose levels rise and then go back to normal within two hours. |
| Hirsutism | presence of excessive bodily and facial terminal hair, in a male pattern, especially in women; maybe present in normal adults as an expression of an ethnic characteristic or may develop in children or adults as a result of androgen excess. |
| Hyperglycemia | An abnormally high concentration of glucose in the blood. A common feature of diabetes mellitus. |
| Hypocalcemic tetany | a disease caused by an abnormally low level of calcium in the blood. It is characterized by hyperexcitability of the neuromuscular system and results in carpopedal spasms. A common cause is a deficiency of parathyroid hormone secretion. |
| Insulin dependent diabetes | a condition characterized by high blood glucose levels caused by a total lack of insulin. Occurs when the body's immune system attacks the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas. |
| Myxedema | Nonpitting, waxy edema of the skin, often most pronounced in the face and shins, owing to subcutaneous deposition of mucoid material in hypothyroidism. |
| Non insulin dependent diabetes | a condition characterized by high blood glucose levels caused by either a lack of insulin or the body's inability to use insulin efficiently. |
| Pheochromocytoma | is a neuroendocrine tumor of the medulla of the adrenal glands (originating in the chromaffin cells), or extra-adrenal chromaffin tissue that failed to involute after birth and secretes excessive amounts of catecholamines, usually adrenaline and noradrenaline. |
| Polyuria | excessive excretion of urine resulting in profuse micturition; causes include diabetes insipidus, diabetes mellitus, and hypercalcemia, but sometimes results from over hydration. |
| Thyrotoxicosis | the state produced by excessive quantities of endogenous or exogenous thyroid hormone. Rapid pulse, diarrhea, fever, loss of weight, and extreme restlessness; coma and death may occur. |
| Adenohypophysis | the anterior pituitary gland. It consists of the distal part, intermediate part, and infudibular part. |
| Adrenocorticotropin | protien hormone of the anterior pituitary gland that stimulates the cortex of the suprarenal gland. |
| Aldosterone | A hormone produced by the cortex of suprarenal gland; its major action is to facilitate potassium exchange for sodium in the distal renal tubule, causing sodium reabsorption and potassium and hydrogen loss. |
| Calcitonin | a peptide hormone, of which eight forms are known; produced by the parathyroid, thyroid, and thymus glands; its action is opposite to that of parathyroid hormone in that it increases the deposition of calcium and phosphate in bone and lowers the level of calcium in the blood. |
| Catecholamine | are sympathomimetic "fight-or-flight" hormones that are released by the adrenal glands in response to stress. They are part of the sympathetic nervous system. |
| Electrolyte | any compound that in soluion, conducts electicity and is decomposed by it; an ionizable substance in solution. |
| Glucocorticoid | are a class of steroid hormones that are part of the feedback mechanism in the immune system that turns immune activity (inflammation) down. They are therefore used in medicine to treat diseases that are caused by an overactive immune system, such as allergies, asthma, autoimmune diseases and sepsis |
| Glycemia | the presence of gulcose in the blood. |
| Homeostasis | the state of equilibrium in the body with respect to various fucntions and to the chemical compositions of the fluids and tissues; the processes through which such bodily equilibrium is maintianed. |
| Hypokalemia | the presence of an abnormally small concentrations of potassium ions in the circulating blood; occurs in familial perodic paralysis and in potassium depletion due to excessive loss from the gastrointestinal tract or kidneys. |
| Hyponatremia | abnoramally low concentrations of sodium ions in the circulating blood. |
| Hypothalamus | includes vital autonomic regulatory centers (as for the control of food intake) |
| Oxytocin | a nonapeptide neurohypophysial hormone that causes myometrial contractions at term and promotes milk release during lactation. |
| Pancreatectomy | excision of the pancreas. |
| Parathyroidectomy | excision of the parathyroid gland. |
| Polydipsia | excessive thirst that is relatively prolonged. |
| Progesterone | an antiestrogenic steroid, believed to be the active principle of the corpus luteum, used to correct abnormalities of the menstrual cycle, as a contraceptive, and to control habitual abortion. |
| Radioimmunoassay | an immunologic procedure that is a method for detecting or quantitating antigens or antibodies using radiolabeled reactants. |
| Tetraiodothyronine | a form of thyroid hormones is the major hormone secreted by the follicular cells of the thyroid gland. |
| Tetany | a clinical neurological syndrome characterized by muscle twitches, cramps, and carpopedal spasm, and when severe, laryngospasms and seizures. |
| Thyroid carcinoma | usually refers to any of four kinds of malignant tumors of the thyroid gland: papillary, follicular, medullary or anaplastic. Papillary and follicular tumors are the most common. They grow slowly and may recur, but are generally not fatal in patients under 45 years of age. Medullary tumors have a good prognosis if restricted to the thyroid gland and a poorer prognosis if metastasis occurs. Anaplastic tumors are fast-growing and respond poorly to therapy. |
| Thyroid scan | uses a radioactive tracer and a special camera to measure how much tracer the thyroid gland absorbs from the blood; used to show how the thyroid is working or to find nodules. |
| Vasopressin | a nonapeptide neurohypophysial hormone related to oxytocin and vasotocin; synthetically prepared or obtained from the posterior lobe of the pituitary, also known as antidiuretic hormone. |
| ketoacidosis | type of metabolic acidosis which is caused by high concentrations of ketone bodies, formed by the breakdown of fatty acids and the deamination of amino acids. |
| glycosuria | is the excretion of glucose into the urine. |
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