Endocrinologists treat diseases affecting the metabolism of the human body.
These include conditions disrupting the normal function of the thyroid, pituitary, adrenal, pineal, thymus, and gonadal glands, and the pancreas, diseases that change the way the body regulates its internal environment. Each of these glands or organs secretes hormones that have effects on the way the body appears, acts, and maintains itself. The repercusions of disease in any of these organs are serious, leading to sometimes severe symptoms of weight loss, weight gain, excess calcium, anxiety, depression, heat intolerance, cold intolerance, and combinations of these symptoms. Endocrinologists don't just treat thyroid conditions, however. Hormones act by accelerating, slowing, or stabilizing enzyme activity in target cells.