What does the child endocrinologist do?

A child's endocrinologist is a fairly rare profession. In many medical centers such a post is not even provided. This is not entirely correct, since the growth and development of the child's organism largely depends on the work of the glands of external, and especially internal, secretion. In the event that all deviations are detected early enough, it becomes possible to conduct rational treatment and completely stabilize the endocrine system. If a full restoration of the functional capabilities of the glands is not feasible, the pediatric endocrinologist will prescribe substitution therapy exactly in the extent that it is necessary for a specific child.

Endocrinological diseases in children have recently been encountered more and more often. At the same time, many of them proceed outwardly imperceptibly. This contributes to the aggravation of the pathological process and the late detection of endocrine diseases.

One of the most common diseases of this profile in children is diabetes. It is worth noting that many people, up to 30 years of age, are exposed to type I of this serious and dangerous disease. The child does not easily identify his first symptoms. Parents should pay attention to the fact that their child often goes to the toilet "in a small way". In addition, children with type I diabetes often feel thirsty, quickly lose weight, despite the fact that they have excellent appetite.

If there are even slight suspicions of the occurrence of such a serious disease, it is necessary that the child is examined by an endocrinologist for children. He will take a blood test for the sugar content, assign a glycemic profile (blood sampling at 3 hours to determine daily fluctuations in blood sugar concentration), and then determine the dose of insulin needed to compensate for type I diabetes if this disease is identified.

The pathology associated with the thyroid gland is also quite common among children. The main diseases caused by the malfunctioning of this organ are hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. The first type of pathology is more common. The main cause of this disease is a reduced production of thyroxin by thyroid cells. A similar condition can be observed in the event of a lesion of this organ or be a consequence of the removal of its part. Children with this disease have a heightened weight, a decreased appetite, eyeballs may look sunken in them, the reaction of such a child is usually hindered. As for hyperthyroidism, this pathology is an increase in thyroxine production by thyroid cells. This pathology is manifested by a decrease in body weight, increased appetite, sweating, advanced eyeballs. Such a child is often irritable. Treatment of hypo- and hyperthyroidism in each case, the child's endocrinologist selects individually. Most often it consists in the appointment of substitution therapy for thyroxine (with hypothyroidism), or thyreostatins (for hyperthyroidism). In the case of increased thyroxine production by thyroid cells, it is sometimes necessary to resort to surgical intervention. In this case, such an operation will not be carried out by an ordinary endocrinologist. Who will do this really well, so it's an endocrinologist-surgeon.

In the course of the examination, the pediatric endocrinologist can also identify other diseases: pituitary nanism, gigantism and others, but they are rare.