Endocrine system: glands, hormones and disease

How the thyroid, adrenal, pituitary and other glands work, the hormones they make, and the conditions that affect them, from diabetes to endocrine cancers.

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Endocrine System

The endocrine system consists of cells, tissues, and organs that secrete hormones critical to homeostasis. The body coordinates its functions through two major types of communication: neural and endocrine.

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Endocrine system anatomy

The endocrine system is the set of glands that make hormones, the chemical messengers that control growth, metabolism, sleep and reproduction. Its anatomy runs from the pituitary and thyroid to the adrenal glands, pancreas, ovaries and testes, and hormones such as estrogen, testosterone and oxytocin.

Endocrine diseases and disorders

Endocrine diseases upset the body's hormone balance, and some affect several glands at once. They include multiple endocrine neoplasia types 1 and 2, which cause tumors in hormone glands, and autoimmune polyglandular syndrome, as well as changes that come with age, like andropause and menopausal hot flashes.

Adrenal gland diseases and disorders

The adrenal glands sit on top of the kidneys and make hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which help control stress, blood pressure and metabolism. Their disorders include Addison disease, Cushing's syndrome, adrenal crisis, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, pheochromocytoma and adrenal cancer.

Ovary diseases and disorders

The ovaries hold a woman's eggs and make estrogen and progesterone. Their disorders range from ovarian cysts and primary ovarian insufficiency to female infertility, and from ovarian cancer, its screening and prevention to rarer granulosa cell and germ cell tumors.

Pancreas diseases and disorders

The pancreas makes both digestive enzymes and hormones such as insulin, which controls blood sugar. Its disorders include pancreatitis, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, pancreatic cancer and neuroendocrine tumors, along with islet cell and pancreas transplants and the artificial pancreas.

Pituitary gland diseases and disorders

The pituitary gland, at the base of the brain, makes hormones that control growth and other glands. Its disorders include pituitary tumors such as prolactinoma, acromegaly, Cushing disease, growth disorders, Sheehan syndrome and diabetes insipidus.

Testicle diseases and disorders

The testicles make sperm and testosterone. Their disorders range from undescended testicles, or cryptorchidism, and the surgery that corrects it to testicular cancer and germ cell tumors in men and boys, along with testicular cancer screening and vasectomy.

Thyroid and parathyroid diseases and disorders

The thyroid gland controls metabolism, and the parathyroid glands behind it control calcium levels. Their disorders range from hypothyroidism, Hashimoto's disease, Graves' disease and thyroid nodules to thyroid cancer and hyperparathyroidism, including thyroid disease in pregnancy.

Pineal gland and hypothalamic diseases and disorders

The pineal gland makes melatonin, which helps set the body's sleep-wake cycle, and the hypothalamus links the brain to the hormone system. Their disorders include pineal cysts and pineoblastoma, circadian rhythm disorders such as jet lag, and hypothalamic dysfunction and obesity.

Pineal Gland Diseases and Disorders

Thalamic Diseases and Disorders

Diabetes

Diabetes is a condition in which blood sugar is too high, because the body makes too little insulin or can't use it well. It includes prediabetes and type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes, along with insulin, glucose monitoring, diet, prevention and complications such as diabetic retinopathy.

Endocrine cancers

Endocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones or in hormone-making cells elsewhere, as neuroendocrine tumors do. They include thyroid, pancreatic, adrenal, ovarian and testicular cancer and pituitary tumors, along with inherited syndromes such as multiple endocrine neoplasia.

Puberty

Puberty is when a child's body matures into an adult's, as hormones bring growth spurts and sexual development. It can come too early, as in precocious puberty, or too late, as in delayed puberty, and conditions such as androgen insensitivity syndrome change how it unfolds.

Menopause

A woman is considered to be in menopause when she has not had a period for 12 consecutive months; this natural and vital process, usually occurring between the ages of 45 and 55, signifies the end of estrogen and progesterone production by the ovaries, and is the end of a women's reproductive years. Learn more about the changes that happen during menopause.

Hormones

Hormones are chemical messengers that control growth, metabolism, reproduction and pregnancy. Too little or too much causes disorders such as growth hormone deficiency, hypothyroidism and Addison disease, and hormones are also used as medicine, from birth control pills to hormone therapy for breast and prostate cancer.

Hormone Deficiency and Growth

Hormone Therapy

Hormones and Pregnancy

Sexual health and hormones

Sexual health is part of overall health and is shaped by hormones such as testosterone from puberty to later life. Common problems include low libido, low testosterone, premature ejaculation and sexual problems after cancer, and differences of sex development such as Turner syndrome.

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