Hello and welcome to the zero to finals podcast. My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be

talking to you about hyperparathyroidism. And you can find written notes on this topic at

zero to finals.com slash hyperparathyroidism or in the endocrinology section of the zero to finals medicine book.

So let's get straight into it.

Hyperparathoridism refers to raised parathyroid hormone.

Let's start with some basic physiology.

There are four parathyroid glands situated in the four corners

of the thyroid gland. The parathyroid glands, specifically the chief cells in the glands,

produce parathyroid hormone in response to hypo-calcemia, or a low calcium level.

So when the calcium level in the blood is low, the parathyroid glands secrete parathyroid hormone.

Parathyroid hormone acts to raise the blood calcium level

by increasing osteoclast activity in bones, causing reabsorption of calcium from the bones,

increasing calcium reabsorption in the kidneys, meaning that less calcium is lost in the urine,

and increasing vitamin D activity resulting in increased calcium absorption in the intestines.

Vitamin D acts to increase calcium absorption in the intestines.

Parathyroid hormone acts on vitamin D to convert it to its active forms.

Therefore, vitamin D and parathyroid hormone act together to raise the

blood calcium levels. Let's go through the symptoms of hypercalcemia, or a raised calcium level.

The symptoms of hypercalcemia can be remembered with the stones, bones, groans and moans

pneumonic. This refers to kidney stones, painful bones, abdominal groans, meaning constipation,

nausea and vomiting, and psychic moans, referring to fatigue, depression, and psychosis.

Let's go through the types of hyperparathyroidism.

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