Here is a letter I recently received from a patient who had been suffering with typical symptoms of high calcium for about 4 years, with a calcium level that was “only” in the low 10’s. She recently underwent a simple outpatient operation to remove the overactive parathyroid gland and get her calcium and PTH back to normal. “Dear Dr Kennedy, I wanted to thank you again, for all of your help! I also wanted to give you a quick update on my progress! My body seems to be healing by leaps and bounds since parathyroid surgery on xx/xx/23! I’m now OFF all 4 of my BP meds (I met with cardiologist yest ..read more

Did you know that there’s an estimated 1-7 cases of hyperparathyroidism per every 1000 people? The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism reports that “Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is a relatively common endocrine disorder… It is believed to be the most common cause of hypercalcemia, predominantly affecting elderly populations and women two to three times as often as men.” (2013) Despite this statistic, many are unaware of the causes, effects, and cures for this condition. Continue below to see how you can be proactive about your parathyroid health. You might just f ..read more

Hyperparathyroidism can steal your quality of life.  My mother was diagnosed with hyperparathyroidism 4 years ago and has spiraled downhill since.  She was told to stay hydrated and that would control her serum calcium level because she was not a candidate for surgery.  As time went on, my (now) 90-year-old mother was slowly losing her will to live.  She would on some days stay in bed for 22 hours.  Her family watched her withering away and could not figure out what was going on.  After a neurology visit for dementia evaluation, the family was told that her proble ..read more

This week I received an email from a patient who underwent successful parathyroid surgery about 2 years ago. Her case was interesting in a number of ways, but especially because she had known for over 10 years that her calcium was slightly elevated, and her physicians had told her they would continue to “just watch it”. During that time frame, her bone density gradually deteriorated to the point that she had frank osteoporosis, only in her early 60’s. This was especially distressing to her, as she worked in physical education. In addition to the osteoporosis, she was finding herself more and ..read more

Hyperparathyroidism is a disease that is underrecognized, underdiagnosed, and undertreated.  It is typically manifest as a slight elevation in your calcium level, and your doctor might even overlook it, maybe not even aware themselves of how big an impact that slight elevation in your calcium level may have. But the truth is, calcium impacts so many functions in the body, there are many symptoms that can occur, including a decreased energy level, tiredness during the day, muscle weakness, lack of concentration, or memory loss, bone pain, excessive thirst, perspiration, and urination, and ..read more

Does this statement describe your situation? “My calcium level is above the normal range. I asked my doctor and they said it’s nothing to worry about, and we can just keep an eye on it. Is that okay?” Short answer, no, it’s not okay. So why do some doctors not follow up on an elevated calcium level? Probably, it’s because the calcium is one of about 18 different test results that are reported on the usual blood tests.  It’s not at all unusual for one or more of the results to be slightly out of range. Depending on which test result it is, that may or may not be significant. For example ..read more