Endocrinology
Skilled and Compassionate Treatment for Hormone Disorders
While your hormones aren’t something you think about every day, they are a major part of your body’s daily functioning. And when they aren’t working correctly, you could experience a variety of health problems. When you need help with a hormone disorder, our providers — who are experts in your body’s endocrine system — are ready to help you find just the right balance, so you can get back to feeling healthy again.
Conditions We Treat
There are many different parts of your body that are involved in your endocrine system, and a wide range of conditions that can result from problems with that system. Our caring team can help you figure out what’s going on — and find a solution.
Adrenal Issues
Your adrenal glands produce hormones including cortisol, adrenaline and aldosterone. They help control aspects of your health such as blood pressure, metabolism and stress response.
Some of the most common adrenal disorders include:
- Addison’s disease develops when your body doesn’t produce enough cortisol and aldosterone.
- Cushing’s syndrome develops when your cortisol levels are too high.
- Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a genetic condition that develops when your adrenal glands have trouble producing cortisol.
- Adrenal gland suppression develops when your adrenal gland doesn’t work right because you’re taking other kinds of hormones, such as prednisone.
- Hyperaldosteronism develops when your body produces too much aldosterone, which leads to high blood pressure.
- Virilization develops when the body produces too much of the male sex hormone — and is only present in females or in boys before puberty.
Diabetes
One of the most common conditions endocrinologists treat, diabetes, is a chronic condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. If you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin to turn blood sugar into energy, or it makes too much. At Owensboro Health, our comprehensive diabetes program can help you manage this complicated disease and get back to leading your best life.
Hypothalamus Problems
Your hypothalamus controls your body and keeps it in a stable condition called homeostasis. When you have a problem with your hypothalamus, it can affect your body temperature, blood pressure, hunger and thirst, mood, sex drive and sleep. Hypothalamus dysfunction can lead to many different conditions, including:
- Amenorrhea, which is the absence of a period for three or more months in women.
- Prader-Willi syndrome develops when your hypothalamus doesn’t recognize when you’re full, which puts you at risk for obesity.
- Kallmann syndrome, which can cause problems in children, such as delayed or no puberty.
Infertility
Hormone imbalances can affect fertility for both men and women. Not only do you need to have certain levels of estrogen and testosterone to reproduce, you also should have an appropriate balance of other hormones. If you’re facing fertility issues, our endocrinologists are here to help with a full array of services ranging from testing to advanced treatment options.
Pancreas Issues
Your pancreas — which is located behind your stomach, between your liver and spleen — not only makes insulin, it produces the digestive juice that converts the food you eat into fuel for your body. Common pancreas issues include:
- Pancreatitis develops when your pancreas becomes inflamed.
- Pancreatic cancer develops when cells in your pancreas begin to grow out of control.
- Cystic fibrosis, which is a genetic disorder, develops when thick, sticky mucus blocks tubes in your pancreas and other organs.
Pituitary Problems
Your pituitary gland — which is about the size of a pea and sits at the base of your brain behind your nose — is the “master control gland of your body,” making many different hormones that affect growth and other glands in your body.
Most often, pituitary disorders are the result of a noncancerous tumor that causes your pituitary gland to make too much or too little of a certain hormone. You also can experience pituitary problems if you have a head injury or have bleeding near the pituitary gland.
Thyroid Disease
Thyroid disease is a general term for a medical condition in which your thyroid — which is a gland in the front of your neck that releases and controls hormones to manage your metabolism — doesn’t make the right amount of hormones.
There are two main types of thyroid disease:
- Hyperthyroidism develops when your thyroid makes too much thyroid hormone, causing your heart to beat faster, making you feel nervous and even possibly resulting in unexplained weight loss.
- Hypothyroidism develops when your thyroid doesn’t make enough thyroid hormone. When you have hypothyroidism, you might gain weight, feel tired and be unable to tolerate cold temperatures.