In yesterday’s post “What is Wrong With Me?” I discussed my symptoms and how I found out I had hyperparathyroidism. Parathyroid disease is called “hyperparathyroidism”, affecting 1 in 1000 people causing high blood calcium–which leads to serious health problems. It is important that people learn about this little known disease.
Hyperparathyroidism
Hyper – too much
Parathyroid – parathyroid gland
Ism – a disease or condition
I didn’t even know I had parathyroids or what they did. I had heard of the thyroid and thought this might be part of it. I was wrong! They are neighbors and live next to each other. But they each have very different jobs. Both are in your neck. The thyroid is behind your voice cords and the parathyroid sits behind the thyroid. The thyroid regulates your metabolism. The parathyroids regulate the calcium in your blood and eventually the calcium in your bones.
Parathyroid Glands
The parathyroid consists of 4 rice size glands, two on the right and two on the left. They constantly regulate the calcium in the blood. Why is this important? Calcium is the most important element in our bodies (we use it to control many systems), so calcium is regulated very carefully. Parathyroid glands control the calcium. The calcium in your blood regulates your heart rhythm by acting as a conductor of the electric current, it also enables the electrical current in all nerves, muscles and brain. It provides strength to the bones and calcium reserves are also stored in the bones, Calcium is the most closely regulated element in our bodies. It is the ONLY element / mineral that has its own regulatory system (the parathyroid glands).
When one or more of the rice size glands becomes diseased by a tumor it goes crazy and constantly says you need more calcium.
No matter how much calcium you have in the blood, it says it needs more and more and more. The only place to get this is to pull it out of the muscles and the bones. It depletes calcium stores in the bones and other parts of the body thus causing many and varied symptoms. It makes humans feel awful. It affects several systems in your body including your nervous system, brain function, heart function, and skeletal system. If not treated it will ruin your kidneys, liver and arteries, causes strokes and cardiac rhythm problems. It causes kidney stones and osteoporosis; and can even increase the risk of cancers such as breast cancer, colon cancer and prostrate cancer.
It is important to know that patients with un-treated primary hyperparathyroidism will die an average of 5-6 years earlier than their peers, due to increased rates of heart disease, stroke, and several types of cancers. Hyperparathyroidism is a more deadly disease than high cholesterol. When the parathyroid tumor is removed, the risks of these complications decreases.
The only cure is surgery to remove the gland that is acting up. No medicine will fix this or slow down the process. There is no way to treat this but there is a cure and the cure is surgery.
Check back tomorrow to learn about my surgery (including pictures) and how modern medical science has improved the procedure.
Leave me a comment if you found this information helpful or know of someone else who has or had hyperparathyroidism.