Episode 1: What is Hyperparathyroidism?

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It's commonly known as parathyroid disease, and parathyroid disease might just be that little easier to roll off the tongue. But parathyroid disease relates to the four parathyroid glands that sit behind the thyroid in your neck and they should be the size of a grain of rice. These glands produce the parathyroid hormone level that determines the level of calcium within your blood.

If one or more of these glands become overactive, then it's possible that Other systems in the body can be effective

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causing a variety of symptoms. There are also many different types of hyperparathyroidism and we'll discuss the different types of hyperparathyroidism in episode 2.

The next thing to be aware of is to observe the symptoms. They can be very severe, and it can be that your quality of life is profoundly affected. Some of the main symptoms that patients commonly report can include the following. Anxiety, depression, extreme fatigue. memory problems, poor concentration, personality changes, mood swings, sleep problems, irritability, hair loss, loss of libido, headaches, hot flashes, or flushing.

Weight loss or weight gain, loss of appetite, nausea,

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vomiting, heartburn, constipation, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, high or low calcium, breaking teeth, dental issues, itchy skin, kidney stones,, frequent urination extreme thirst, osteoporosis, fractures, joint or bone pain, muscle pain, muscle weakness, balance issues, or vertigo, to name but a few.

If you have this disease, your symptoms may well look very similar. You may have some that aren't on that list.

So what to do if you think that you might have this? Well, The first and foremost thing really is to ask your doctor, your GP if you're in the UK, to run some tests. Now the tests that they'll need to run are quite important and it's important that you get this trio of

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tests done, the basic trio of tests done, from the same blood draw.

Now this was advised by To me by my surgeon who also advised to have the bloods taken first thing in the morning and fasting. They are calcium. Now, calcium could be serum calcium plus ionized calcium parathyroid hormone level or PTH as we refer to it. Vitamin D. Additional tests could be cretinine and phosphorate.

But the key three that are used commonly in the UK, or should be used commonly UK, for diagnostic purposes, are calcium, parathyroid hormone level, and vitamin D. Without those three basic tests, it is almost impossible to get an accurate overview of what's going on and whether. Or not, you have the disease.

From there, you need to be

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referred to an endocrinologist if you're in the UK. And that endocrinologist should do some further retesting. And if hyperparathyroidism is suspected, Should then send you for some scans, some imaging scans, and there are a variety of different imaging scans which I'll cover in a later episode.

But that's the basics of hyperparathyroidism, and those are the basic tests that anyone who thinks that they might have this disease, needs to ask their GP or medical professional to do for them. In episode two, we'll cover briefly, and not in detail, some of the other variations and presentations of hyperparathyroidism.

I hope you will join me there. Thank you for listening.