Diseases and Disorders
FUN FACT!

A specialist who studies the endocrine system is known as an endocrinologist!​​
Although the endocrine system may seem to be extremely successful in the human body, complications in it can cause diseases and disorders.


The diagram to the right shows the most well-known disease caused by the endocrine system, diabetes.  A person who has diabetes has a defective pancreas that does not produce a sufficent enough amount of insulin, or their body is not able to correctly use the insulin they produce.
  Diabetes
Osteoporosis:


​Osteoporosis is a condidtion that causes the bones to become very fragile and breakable​​.  There are no outward physical signs of this disease, so it is usually not diagnosed until a patient breaks or fractures a bone.  Lack of the hormone estrogen in females (produced by the ovaries) during menopause can cause osteoporosis, and lack of testosterone (produced by the testes) in aging males can cause osteoporosis.
Type 1 diabetes can be managed with daily insulin injections, and is usually solely caused by the lack of insulin produced in the pancreas.  Type 2 diabetes is most commonly caused by weight gain (and lack of insulin, too).  The main treatment for type 2 diabetes patients is a strict diet and exercise regime and possible insulin injections.  There is no known cure for diabetes yet.
There are several other disorders and diseases connected to the endocrine system.  Here is a short list of some other diseases/conditions:

-Thyroid Cancer
-Addison's Disease
-Cushing's Syndrome
-Gestational Diabetes
-Graves' Disease
-Growth Hormone Deficiency
-Hashimoto's Thyroiditis
-Hyperglycemia
-Hyperparathyroidism
-Hyperthyroidism
-Hypoglycemia
-Hypoparathyroidism
-Hypothyroidism
-Low Testosterone
-Menopause
-Obesity
-Pre-diabetes
-Thyroid Nodules


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