Endocrine disorders in children

Endocrine system

There are two major types of the glands in the human body and the main differencebetween them is that the exocrine glands have the ducts, while the endocrineglands do not have the ducts but the hormones that they produce enter the bloodstreamthorough their walls. The endocrineglands regulate all the processes in the body since they create hormones, whichare responsible for the proper functioning of the entire system. Pituitary and thyroidglands are a part of the endocrine system, as well as hypothalamus, reproductive, adrenal glands and many others as well.

Endocrine disordersin children

The symptomsof the endocrine disorders are different in children than in adults, although the children have the same endocrine system problems. When one has some endocrine system disorder, that means that the levels of the hormones of thespecific gland are disturbed.

Diabetes isone of the endocrine system disorders that can occur in children. Even thoughthe type 1 diabetes mostly occurs in children, which is, by the way, alsocalled juvenile diabetes, they may also develop type 2 diabetes. When the levelof hormone insulin is imbalanced, diabetes occurs. While in type 1 diabetesmellitus there is no sufficient amount of insulin, in type 2 diabetes the body’scells do not recognize insulin.The pituitary gland creates the human growth hormone and abundance of thishormone leads to gigantism, a condition marked by an extremely big body size for the child’s age. On the other side, when the levels of the human growth hormoneare decreased, the child will stay extremely small in size.Among the endocrine system disordersin children there are hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. The child who suffersfrom hyperthyroidism has extremely high levels of the hormones of thethyroid gland, while on the other hand, the child who has the problem withhypothyroidism has very low levels of the thyroid hormones.It is considered that the girlsenter puberty at about 10 years of age, while in boys it happens at about 12 years of age.However, when it happens that they enter puberty earlier than 7 and 9 years ofage respectively, it is called precocious puberty and is the consequence ofhypothalamus malfunction.The main disorder of the adrenalglands is called Cushing’s syndrome, which is developed when these glands createextremely high levels of the hormone called cortisol.

Each of these endocrine system disordershas its own characteristic warning signs and when the parents notice them intheir children, it is important to take their children to a doctor in order totreat the disorder promptly.