Endocrinology deals with the disease that is one of a disorder of hormones. Endocrine glands are special organs in the body that produce chemical agents called hormones necessary for various essential internal processes in the body.
These hormones can become disordered when the quantities produced are either too much or too little. Examples of endocrine organs include the thyroid glands, pancreas, pituitary ovaries, testes adrenals, and the inner lining of the intestine.
The most common disorders seen are the underproduction of the hormone insulin by the pancreas, over and under-production of thyroid hormones. the less common one is the disorder production of the pituitary gland inside the brain.
Therefore diabetes mellitus simply called diabetes is the most common endocrine disease seen in Nigeria and here in Ekpan hospital Warri.
Next is the overproductive Thyroid hormones called Hyperthyroidism or thyrotoxicosis.
Underproduction of these thyroid hormones is also another life-threatening endocrine disease called hypothyroidism.
Occasionally we see pituitary hormonal disorders live overproduction of prolactin resulting in hyperprolactinaemia which may present as excessive breast milk production or as infertility.
Rarely do we see growth hormone disorders in the form of underproduction in children or overproduction in adults.
