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Working for Endocrinology
Endocrinology is the field of medicine concerned with disorders of the glands and hormonal systems.
Endocrine glands produce and secrete hormones into the blood or lymph systems. These glands include:
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thyroid
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parathyroid
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hypothalamus
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pituitary
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adrenal
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islets of Langerhans in the pancreas
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gonads (testes and ovaries).
These hormones may affect one organ or tissue or the entire body. There are many disorders that can result when too few hormones are secreted (hyposecretion) or too many are secreted (hypersecretion).
Disorders that may result when a particular gland does not produce the right amount of hormones include the following.
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Thyroid: hypothyroidism, myxoedema, goitre, thyrotoxicosis
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Parathyroid: high calcium, tetany, renal calculi, excessive loss of minerals from bone, hypercalcaemia
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Adrenal: Addison's disease, phaeochromocytoma
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Pituitary: non-functioning tumour, diabetes insipidus, acromegaly, gigantism, Cushing's syndrome, dwarfism
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Testes and ovaries: lack of sex development, hypogonadism
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Pancreas: diabetes, hypoglycaemia
These conditions may be treated by medicine or surgery. The Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust has internationally recognised experts in the treatment of these disorders.
Endocrinology services at the Trust are provided from the Department of Endocrinology at the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM|), which is based at the Churchill Hospital. OCDEM is a unique clinical, academic and research partnership between the NHS, the University of Oxford and private enterprise.
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OCDEM website
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Diabetes at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals
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