You’ve been diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism, perhaps after struggling with various symptoms for many years, with this being the root cause that perplexed your medical professionals. Maybe you joined a social media platform to compare notes with others who have been on a similar journey. After hearing other patient stories, you might be feeling more confused than ever. A few mention having had failed surgeries and are now suffering the consequences. That’s scary and now you have doubts and questions. You want to understand why this happens and want reassurance that this doesn’t happe ..read more

The Parathyroid Peeps host a patient support community on Inspire and a question was recently raised regarding the effectiveness of ethanol ablation and when it might be used as an intervention for hyperparathyroidism. We asked parathyroid expert Dr. Deva Boone, our medical advisor on Inspire, to respond and help educate us on this topic. Dr. Deva Boone founder and surgeon at Southwest Parathyroid Center hosts a Parathyroid Question and Answer website: where you can review answers to many common questions asked about primary hyperparathyroid disease and also have your personal questions answer ..read more

By Doug Politz, MD & Jose Lopez, MD Having surgery would hardly have been considered a reason for a road trip a few short years ago. But sometimes different worlds intersect, and the consumer (in this case the patient) benefits. The 21stcentury has seen countless advances across every field of human activity. The internet, along with its cousins in social media, have become digital travel agents in the field of medical tourism, providing easy access to necessary information. Patients can research the most advanced techniques for parathyroidectomy, share their experiences at different cent ..read more

Kenzie L. is an entrepreneur and divides her time between running her online business and pursuing a singing career. In Kenzie’s free time she pursues other passions such as painting and writing. Kenzie is a strong advocate for the early detection and treatment of hypercalcemia and hyperparathyroidism. It is Kenzie’s mission to help those afflicted with hyperparathyroidism.  MY TEENAGE YEARS I had always been a healthy child, but in my teenage years I started to feel like something was off. This feeling was accompanied with a few fainting spells and so my doctor at the time decided to ..read more

Our guest blogger, Dr. Kevin Parrack, a surgeon from the Norman Parathyroid Center, educates us about differentiating Primary Hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) from Familial Hypocalciuric Hypercalcemia (FHH) in this two-part series.  Part 2 below focuses on the practical application of differentiating pHPT and FHH though a case study. Did you miss Part 1? Here is the link to Part 1 where Dr. Parrack discusses the important differences between the two conditions. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————– One of the questions I get asked frequently is whether or not to get urinary ..read more

Our guest blogger, Dr. Kevin Parrack a surgeon from the Norman Parathyroid Center educates us about differentiating Primary Hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) from Familial Hypocalciuric Hypercalcemia (FHH) in a two-part series. Part 1 below discusses important differences between the two conditions. Part 2, scheduled to post later this month, focuses on the practical application of differentiating pHPT and FHH using a case study. ————————————————– When it comes to diagnosing primary hyperparathyroidism, there are a number of issues that have been debated over time. One of the tools that can be easily ..read more

CREATE YOUR FREE ACCOUNT TO JOIN OUR PARATHYROID PEEPS COMMUNITY ON INSPIRE   Learn more about Inspire here Dr. Courtney Balentine is a fellowship-trained endocrine surgeon with a research program dedicated to improving outcomes for patients with endocrine disease, particularly primary hyperparathyroidism. He serves as a Medical Advisor to the Parathyroid Peeps on Inspire. We are pleased to announce that Dr. Balentine will be available from Monday, November 11 to Friday, November 15 to answer your questions about the diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroid disease.  How to ..read more

With your continued interest and support our Parathyroid Peeps community is growing!  If you haven’t yet joined our parathyroid community on Inspire, we invite you to do so today.  As a member you can receive support and also help others by sharing your patient experience. On September 30th through October 4th we will be hosting our first of many “Ask The Expert” events. Instructions will be prominently posted within the community a few days before the event begins explaining how to participate and where to post your questions. LINKS TO:   Learn more our support community on Ins ..read more

  The exceptionally talented Mark A. Hicks is sharing his “Color Me” cartoon about hyperparathyroidism with us. Using a medium that is most familiar to him Mark notes, “It’s a lighthearted take on a serious health problem” The cartoon came about because, while discussing some artwork Mark was doing for a notable parathyroid doctor, the doctor mentioned the general lack of knowledge of parathyroid disease in the medical community. Mark thought that maybe somebody should draw a simple picture that patients could use to help better explain hyperparathyroid disease and its symptoms to doctors ..read more

Avoid The Pitfalls That Delay Diagnosis & Treatment of Primary Hyperparathyroid Disease is a series of blogs that shed light on the most common issues patients face that delay diagnosis and surgical treatment. #5.  Classic symptoms are often treated by specialists who do not necessarily consider primary hyperparathyroid disease as a possible root cause. Some of the symptoms patients report are more generalized, and can be attributed to any number of health issues. However, there are several classic symptoms associated with primary hyperparathyroid disease.  Medical students ..read more