What is a Pediatric Endocrinologist?
If your child has problems with growth, puberty, diabetes, or other disorders related to the hormones and the glands that produce them, a Pediatric Endocrinologist may treat your child. Hormones are chemicals that affect how other parts of the body work. For example, hormones decide how a child grows and matures. Endocrine glands, such as the pituitary gland, release hormones into the bloodstream. Endocrinology is the science that studies these glands and the effects of the hormones. Problems seen by pediatric endocrinologists are often quite different from those commonly seen by endocrinologists who care for adults. Special training in pediatric conditions as they relate to growth and development is important. Hormonal problems are often present for life. Pediatric endocrinologists deal with hormone disorders at all stages of childhood and the teen years.
What kind of training do Pediatric Endocrinologists have?
Pediatric endocrinologists are medical doctors who have had:
• Four years of medical school
• Three years of pediatric residency
• Three or more years of fellowship training in pediatric endocrinology
What kind of treatments do Pediatric Endocrinologists provide?
Pediatric endocrinologists diagnose, treat, and manage
hormonal disorders including the following:
• Growth problems, such as short stature
• Early or delayed puberty
• Enlarged thyroid gland (goiter)
• Underactive or overactive thyroid gland
• Pituitary gland hypo/hyper function
• Adrenal gland hypo/hyper function
• Ambiguous genitals/intersex
• Ovarian and testicular dysfunction
• Diabetes
• Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
• Obesity
• Problems with Vitamin D (rickets, hypocalcemia)